Adventure Loves Company, Too
by Lammergeier
Summary: Claryssa didn't know where her life would lead after a chance encounter in Elwynn, and her new friends might be the key to finding her place in the world. Old chapters updated, now less whine! Reviews are always loved.
1. First Meeting

Adventure Loves Company, Too

Chapter 1: First Meeting

Past and Future Disclaimer: I do not own anything Blizzard does.

A/N: Going through and editing past chapters to get everything homogenous. Disregard all updates, appologies to those reading and accidentally missing a chapter or two due to the updates. Gonna take out whiny notes as well.

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There was only so much that Durotar had to offer. The dry, hot sun; the dusty, hard red earth; the ever-present scorpions, pigs, and centaur. The Echo Isles were hardly enough to chase away heatstroke and outrageous boredom. Mostly because of the infestation of voodoo practicing Trolls. So, it was no shock when a silvery shadow slipped out of Sen'Jin Village one night, looking towards the north for adventure and riches.

At the same time, a similar shadow flitted out of Darnassus, driven mad by vapid adoration of nature by her kin. Striving for more than the purple-tinted trees of Teldrassil, the mind-boggling height of that accursed tree, and driven by the vague feeling in her chest of needing and craving something more. Something a little more...wicked.

In Thunder Bluff, a dark bird flew off to the northeast, looking for a meaning to his life, craving something more than what he was given and was meant for him. Fleeing from the future of becoming an elder, and training his whole life to be such. He fled in the night towards an unpredictable destiny.

In Stormwind City, a little girl sat down on her bed, watching the sun come up, listening to the drunken roaring of a dwarf downstairs, having roped her father into an all-night drinking party. She sighed and looked outside, wishing she could leave and go off on her own, dreaming of undiscovered riches and sights as of yet unseen. She sighed and got up to help her mother with the morning chores.

A young man in Silvermoon City gathers all of his things in silence, collecting the memories of his past into a giant chest, and all of his clothes into a pack. He motioned to the Felguard sitting on his bed, and the demon hefted the massive trunk easily and followed him out. The chest was buried in a deep pit outside the city and covered as the boy and the demon faded away from the scarlet city.

All six of these disparate beings were driven by a force that none of them knew about or could ever understand. They were drawn inexorably together, their futures intertwined before they even knew each other, destined to meet despite their varied backgrounds and prejudices.

* * *

A decade later...

Claryssa sighed and let her attention drift a little bit as she watched a bluebird twitter outside her window. She smiled and totally ignored the increasing amount of smoke rising from the pot that she was stirring. It was only when a cry from her mother alerted her that she returned her attention to the utterly ruined soup in front of her and flung open the window through which she was so happily gazing, scaring off the bluebird and letting out a mushroom cloud of smoke. Laughter entered through the open window and Claryssa pulled a face.

"Sorry, mom," she said with a rueful smile. "I just can't stay focused long enough to get this soup done."

"That's okay, dear. We'll just try again tomorrow," her mother responded, and walked out of the room, accompanied by a sigh from her daughter.

Claryssa was fairly tall for a girl, with fairly long brownish-blonde hair and eyes that switched between blue and green with the light and her mood. She was wearing a fairly plain gray dress and was sitting slumped in a chair near the window, staring out at the window. She sighed again, going back to her dreams of leaving and adventure. She bit her lip, thinking. She looked from the window to the still-smoking pot on the stove. She then smiled broadly and got up.

Twenty minutes later, she was running through the forest outside of Stormwind City, laughing as the rather lazy wolves watched her run by with very little interest. She slowed down and jogged a bit, still giggling to herself, but slowing down and starting to enjoy the forest around her. She finally slowed down to a leisurely walk and sighed happily, losing herself in the sound of the forest. The birds around her, the wind whispering through the top of the trees. She sat down under a tree and pulled and apple out of the pack that she had packed before she left and bit into it.

It took her about ten minutes to start feeling uneasy. There was a subtle twinge in her chest, and her eyes found themselves roaming nervously around the forest, looking for the source of her unease. There was someone watching her, and she knew it. She could almost taste the sardonic interest from the person, and she found herself clutching her pack, peering around her in earnest. Slowly, the hairs on the back of her neck raised, and she slowly looked up into the tree above her.

She was met by bright red eyes that showed a mixture of amusement and interest. Her eyes widened in fear as the features around the eyes registered in her brain.

There was a troll ten feet above her.

She let out a small scream and backed away from the tree and tried to get up and and run, but tripped over the hem of her dress and fell face-first into the grass. She looked back at the troll to see his face break out into a broad grin. She whimpered and continued to stare at him despite the horror stories flooding back into her head, transfixed. The troll let out a dark chuckle and dropped down from the tree branch onto the ground with a shockingly swift movement, and squatted down on the ground under the tree.

His skin was a pale blue, made silvery by the short fur that was marred in places by long scars. His hair was silver, and trained back out of his eyes, and he was dressed in rather simple leather armor. The most shocking thing, however, was the tattoos. Gold tattoos defied his skin and made graceful crisscrosses and swirls on his arms and face and-and although Claryssa couldn't see-his whole body. His tusks and ears were simply decorated, and he still wore that crooked, sneering grin.

Claryssa continued to stare, too scared to move. The grin slowly disappeared from the troll's face and he raised an eyebrow. He cocked his head to one side.

"You okay dere, girl?"

Claryssa jumped. Her eyebrows knitted together and she blinked. She stared at the troll, not believing what she just heard.

"You...speak common?" she asked tentatively, hardly hearing herself. The troll chucked again, but it was a little bit softer than before.

"Yah, not relleh somethin' you t'ought you'd heah in yo' life, right, girl?" he grinned again, a bit less savagely. He stretched his shoulders forward and yawned, revealing a lot of sharp, unpleasant-looking teeth in conjunction with his long tusks.

"N-no, not really," she muttered meekly, holding her legs to her chest and buring her face in her knees. "Wh-what do you want...?" She hadn't really meant to voice that question, and immediately turned bright red and hid deeper in her knees. The troll's eyebrow raised higher.

"Not'in', relleh. Jus' passin' t'rough. Yeh're prob'ly scared witless righ' now, 'nd 'm sorreh for dat. I'm not gonna eatcha, girl. Was jus' watchin'."

"But...why?"

The troll shrugged.

Silence passed in the clearing, and Claryssa calmed down when she saw him looking around nonchalantly, and slowly let her legs down and took another tentative bite of her apple. She jumped when he stood up suddenly and took a few steps toward her, and squatted down right in front of her. Now that he was in front of her, she could see the light scars on his face and the intricate carving in his left tusk. He cocked his head again and raised an eyebrow. Claryssa shrank back a bit, but still looked into his bright red eyes. Despite her fear, she smiled weakly.

The troll blinked and erupted into laughter. Harsh, gutteral laughter that threw his head back and slapped his hand against his knee. "Heheh, you be brave dere, girl. I know ya be scared outta yo' mind, but'cha still go an flash a smile at me. Yer cute, girl, I like yah. Whatchyo name?"

"Claryssa..."

"Heh, dat be so? 'S a nice name, girl."

"Th-thanks..." she didn't want to admit that she was secretly happy for his praise. "Um...what's yours...?"

"Heh. Jen'Zin." He stuck a hand out rather shyly for a handshake, uncertain for the first time in their encounter."I won' be offended if ya don'-"

He was cut off by his hand being taken by hers in a rather awkward handshake. She smiled a little bit broader, blushing furiously, and still shaking from fear. He flashed his lopsided grin at her and sat next to her, stretching his long legs in front of him. He sighed and leaned back against the tree, looking at a bird perched in the branches of a neighboring tree.

"You don't seem to be...well...very Horde-like..." Claryssa paused, wishing she'd thought of something less offensive. Jen'Zin caught on to what she meant and chuckled again.

"Yeh, well, I don' give any allegiance to neit'ah da Horde or da Alliance. I jus' don' agree wit' eit'ah of 'em." He continued to gaze at the bird, who was singing its heart out. "I don' follow da idea dat dere be only room in dis world fer one of 'em. Da world be huge, and dere's no reason we shouldn' get along."

"That makes sense," Claryssa agreed, calming down a bit. She was feeling a bit happy that she hadn't yet been eaten or strangled or worse. "But why did you decide that? I've heard that trolls would give an arm to be able to kill something."

Jen'Zin snorted. "Crazy Alliance dipshits. All dey see is da battlefield. Dey don' see da home life. Trolls be pretty tight-knit in dere tribes, and we'd march ten miles fer our neighbor." His eyes had narrowed into a slight glare, and the bird sang on, oblivious. He sighed and closed his eyes. "But still, we be violent." He lapsed into silence, his eyes still closed.

Claryssa twitched a bit, her first question still unanswered. She was a bit worried about upsetting him, especially considering his last statement, but that question gnawed at her insides and she finally asked him why he left again. He pulled a face.

"It re'lleh be very simple," he replied opening an eye to look at her. "I be a shaman, and I listen to a higher author'ty dan Thrall or what's-his-face. I follow what da spirits tell me, not what da borders an' da regulations say."

"Wouldn't that be considered treason, or something?"

The troll yawned. "Some considered it dat, but when I was brought b'fore da Warchief, he agreed wit' me and let me go." He snickered in a rather hateful manner. Claryssa was taken aback by the look of irritation on his face, and grew quiet. He looked at her and put a huge, three-fingered hand on her head in a friendly manner. "Don' worry, 'm not mad at ya, just thinkin' bout how stupid I was back den. I actully used da spirits as an excuse ta get outta grunt work. I wasn' much of a shaman back den, but da Warchief's an odd sorta guy, and by believin' me, he made me feel super guilty, and I quadrupled mah trainin' ter make t'ings up to bot' of us." He laughed again, the same harsh laugh, but there was a ring of embarrassment in it that wasn't there before, and he gave a bashful grin. "Actu'lly, I wen' back ta talk to him aft'r I had become comp'tent, and he said he knew full well dat I was jus' pretendin'." He sighed. "Odd man, he is."

"You know Thrall?" Claryssa asked a bit fearfully. "I've heard terrible stories about him."

"An' dat's all dey are."

"Huh?"

"Dey only be stories. Warchief Thrall be a pretty nice guy. He be a bit more int'rested in diplomacy dan in war, but since da core nature of da Horde is war, and de Alliance big wigs aren' int'rested in listenin', he can only resort ta war." He stretched out his legs a bit more, wiggling his toes. "Anyway, 'nough 'bout dat, what 'boutchu? I been talkin' like an old geezer, and know nothin' boutcha except yer name."

Claryssa smiled ruefully. "There's not much about me that's interesting. I've lived my whole life in Stormwind, with my mother trying to teach me to cook and me failing miserably at it."

"Aw, dere gotta be more dan dat."

"No, that's about it. I spend most of my time in that abominable kitchen, and come out into the forest to escape whenever I can." She found, much to her chagrin, the troll's smooth, rhythmic accent was starting to affect her speech as well. The troll made a sound of irritation.

"Dat's borin' girl. Haven'tcha ever dreamed of goin' out an' doin' stuff? Adventure, discov'ry, all dat?"

"All the time," she said, that rueful smile coming to her face again. "But I'm too scared to. I don't know what's out there, and I don't know what to do by myself."

They both fell silent for a while, just enjoying the forest. It was maybe a half and hour before Jen'Zin heard the jingling trot of a warhorse, and the troll stiffened and jumped up into the tree they were sitting in, hiding himself in the leaves effortlessly. Claryssa looked up in surprise.

"What is it..?"

"Shhh! Quiet, girl! Dere be a soldier on his way ovah here. Pretend I'm not here, yah?" He fell silent, and she couldn't see him in the tree anymore.

She pouted, her new aquantance hidden in the tree above her with the excuse of an inbound soldier. After a few minutes, however, she could hear it, too.

A guard entered the clearing, mounted on a horse covered in light mail. It wasn't the normal mount for a soldier of such low rank and she eyed him curiously. He spotted her and trotted straight towards her.

"You there! What are you doing out here alone? The forest is dangerous, especially right now."

"Uh...I was just admiring that bird. He flew out here and he had such a beautiful song that I couldn't resist following." She pointed to the still-singing bird that Jen'Zin had been watching, and the troll disguised his laugh into a cough, which he disguised into a crow's squawk. The guard looked at the tree in disgust, but did nothing else.

"Anyway, it isn't safe out here. There's been reports of a troll sighted here, and we don't want any accidents."

"Yes, I'll go home right away. I just need to go get some berries. Since I'm out here anyway, may as well."

The guard grunted and didn't move. "Well, I should watch you anyways. Just to be safe."

Claryssa sighed and got up, discreetly dumping her basket's contents of bread and fruit out before walking off to a known berry patch. The guard urged his horse to follow, and they walked off, out of the clearing. Jen'Zin growled low in his throat and followed swiftly, jumping steathily from tree to tree. Things were going great for a while. Claryssa, followed by the guard, walked steadily ahead, and the troll, unknown to both of them, followed several yards behind, jumping from branch to branch. At least, things WERE going great, until they reached the berry patch.

Jen'Zin miscalculated and found himself flying toward a dead branch. He sighed mentally and tried to catch a different branch, which failed. Faced with the inescapable knowledge that he would, no matter what, give himself away, he resigned himself to that fact and hit the branch, jumped off of it, and barely managed to grab one above it. He hoised himself up and hid again as the dead branch fell to the ground with a great crash.

The guard was thrown from his horse as it reared an bolted, spooked by the sudden noise. He rolled and righted himself, drawing his sword and moving stealthily towards the tree. Claryssa slowly backed away from the guard, trying to use the distraction to slip away from him. The guard flipped the branch over and looked into the tree.

A silvery blue foot collided with the guard's face, and he fell to the ground, out cold. Jen'Zin dropped to the ground and turned the guard over carefully. He flashed a straight-faced thumbs-up to Claryssa, who laughed shakily.

"Now den, you should be gettin' back home, girl. I'll carry da excess weight, but 'm sure dat your mom be worryin'."

"Why are you worrying so much about me?" Claryssa asked, her sense of suspicion finally kicking in. Jen'Zin hoisted the guard ont his shoulder and looked at her.

"Curiosity, mos'ly. Now c'mon, girl. Da sun be goin' down." He set off with a smooth, leisurely gait that Claryssa still had to jog to keep up with.

"Curious? About what?"

"Everythin'. Never been 'round humans much." He didn't turn, but she could see his ears twitch as he grinned. Claryssa pouted and harrumphed. Jen'Zin stopped and turned, placing his hand on her head again and chuckling. "Don' worry. I don' wanna hurtcha. Sounds odd, but dere be somethin' 'boutcha dat draws my attention."

He continued forward, and they soon found themselves near the entrance to Stormwind City. They paused and stared at it for a while, and Jen'Zin laid the unconscious guard on the ground by the road.

"Well...I guess dis be it, den. You go on home, Claryssa." He flashed her a grin.

"Yeah. Uh...You going to stay here long?"

"A little while, yah."

"I'll see you soon, then!" Claryssa ran off towards the city before the troll could respond, leaving him standing with a slightly bewildered expression. He smirked and shook his head and trotted back into the woods. Claryssa dashed home, and took the lectures from her parents in good spirits.


	2. Escape On a Grand Scale

Adventure Loves Company, Too

Chapter 2: Escape on a Grand Scale

A/N: lololol, accidentally lost the chapter. Thankfully, I learned from past experience and backed up all of the chapters. Apologies.

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Claryssa plowed through her chores the next day in the fastest and most efficient way possible, and her mother caught on to her daughter's sense of urgency and piled more and more additional tasks in front of her with a midly amused expression. Claryssa hardly slowed and her determination to be set free from her home to run into the forest drove her throughout the day, until she looked outside and saw that the sun had dropped far too low for it to be worthwhile to venture into the forest. She sighed mournfully and plopped into a chair. Her mother raised an eyebrow and sent her off to go get the last-minute deals from the fruit vendors in the streets.

She shuffled through Stormwind City, staring at her feet and sighing frequently. She'd promised Jen'Zin that she'd see him soon, and had found that she was looking forward to it when she had woken up. She muttered to herself about the injustice of it all and was making her way by the stockades when a roar went up in the opposite direction. She stopped and looked up sharply, and saw a large and very angry crowd was making its way up the street towards the jail. She squinted a bit to see who the guards were leading and nearly screamed when she saw who they were dragging rather easily up the street.

Jen'Zin was angry. More than angry.

He was pissed.

And that didn't happen very often at all. Actually, it was only the second time he'd been the mad. The first had been when his brother had accidentally killed his first raptor when he left a bottle of poison a bit too close to its water dish.

His face was set in a more or less permanent scowl as he allowed himself to be pulled up the streets of Stormwind City, surrounded by an entire battalion of soldiers. He had been rather foolish, allowing himself to be crept up on. A shame to trollkind. He sighed bitterly and got the butt of a lance smashed into his gut in return. He glared at the soldier, who took a step back.

The circumstances that brought about this situation were really rather simple. Jen'Zin was hoping to see Claryssa just as much as she was hoping to see him. Mostly because it's not very often that someone of the opposing faction was willing to sit down and have a sane conversation with you. So, he had set himself up in a tree near the gate to Stormwind. By chance, a Draenei of the hunter variety had been sauntering into Stormwind, and happened to notice the troll, and promptly alerted the guards. Jen'Zin decided it would be smarter to give himself up and escape later, rather than have to wipe an Alliance stronghold off the map. He was sure the Horde would elevate him into godhood, but that wasn't on his list of things to do at the moment.

At the moment, he was a bit more preoccupied by the fact that he was being dragged towards a dungeon.

And Alliance dungeons were NOT nice to trolls. Or any of the Horde, for that matter. But they were particularly savage to trolls. Jen'Zin took a moment to curse his regenerative capabilities.

It was right around then that he noticed someone standing near his final destination. Someone familiar. He opened his mouth to call to her but then thought better of it as he noticed the soldier raise his lance again.

He gave a short nod to Claryssa as he passed her by, and was dragged into the entrance to the jail, where the warden stood, still bloody from the last surge of prisoners attempting to break free.

Claryssa's ears were filled with an odd white noise, and her sight had an odd tunnel vision quality. She tried to push past the crowd as best she could to see what was going on. She heard the crowd give roars of encouragement and assent, and was sure that whatever was going on, it was not at all good for her new friend. A voice in the back of her head was telling her that he was a troll, and would probably eat her one of these days anyway, but she quickly hushed it. She continued to try to push through the crowd.

Jen'Zin stared dully at the man in front of him. He was obviously feeling VERY important right now, considering how rare it was to actually CAPTURE a member of the Horde, let alone FIND one in Elwynn forest. The man was giving some self-righteous speech about the Alliance, firing up the crowd. If it were different circumstances, Jen'Zin would have commended the man's superior oratory skills, but he was far too irritated at the situation to do anything but stare slack-lipped at the offensive creature. The man caught on to this.  
He made a crack about Jen'Zin's intelligence. The troll's eyebrow shot up. A crack about personal hygene. The second one shot up. His bored stare had turned into a "that's fascinating, please continue" death stare, and the warden faltered a bit. He quickly regained his composure, however.

"And now I'll take this time to see what our captive has to say in his defense!" He waved a hand forward, already amused by his own joke. He obviously wasn't expecting a troll to know common.

"Yeh, go back ta screwin' yer mot'er. Dat's obviously da only way ya be gettin' laid."

A hush ran over the crowd and Jen'Zin set his face in an indignant pout, knowing that he was being childish but not caring at all. His rage had subsided into irritation, and he could somehow always manage to do more damage out of the latter than the former. And his irritation had reached a fever pitch.

"...Pardon?"

"Yeh heard meh, ya daffy bastard. Yer so self-righteous. Yah don' even stop ta t'ink 'bout whatcher talkin' 'bout. Yer jus' a prejudiced bastard, like ev'ryone else."

The warden blubbered a bit, trying to wrap his head around a troll calling him prejudiced. "You lot are, too! Wha-gah-ARRG! Who do you think you are?"

An idea came to Jen'Zin at that moment. The crooked grin found its way onto Jen'Zin's face, and he cocked his head mockingly and dropped his voice an octave.  
"Dat be none of yer damn business."

With that, he launched himself backwards with shocking speed, out of the grip of the guards holding him down, and through the half of the crowd that didn't react fast enough, He spun around after he'd reached open air and rocketed forward. The guard finally reacted and pushed the crowd out of the way, and an emergency bell sounded. Guards burst out of seemingly nowhere, barring his path. He weaved around a few stray citizens, and jumped off of a crate, onto an awning, and from there onto a roof. The guards stared at his display of agility, a couple dropping their weapons. Jen'Zin sniggered.

He circled around, and found himself on a collision course with an army of crossbow bolts.

Very large crossbow bolts.

VERY large.

He panicked and backpedaled, falling off the roof on purpose to avoid a lot of pain and most certain death. He landed heavily on his back thirty feet below his starting point and groaned. He rolled over and spat out a few oaths in Zandali and popped his spine back into place.

"Jen'Zin!" He looked up at the blonde girl who had rushed towards him with a dopey look on his face, his wits momentarily dulled by pain.

"Whoozat? Jaina?" He hauled himself to his feet and lost balance, nearly falling over. He used an incoming guard to catch himself, knocking the man out in the process. "Sorreh, m'lady, I ain' seen da Warchief fer a few years now, 'nd I don' have any plans ta go back ta Orgrimmar fer a while..."

Claryssa facepalmed.

A guard took advantage of the momentary weakness of the troll and a warhammer cracked against the side of Jen'Zin's face, returning him to reality. He stared at the guard, both stunned by the blow momentarily. The troll then swatted the man away with an irritated flick of his wrist. "Sorreh 'bout dat. Get a bit weird when I get hurt like dat. Anyway, I best be off." He kicked another guard into a crate and let out a loud whistle. Claryssa started.

"Wait, you're leaving?" She realized she was being silly after she said it. She danced out of the way of a frothing warrior, brandishing his sword violently. She watched with a vaguely interested expression as he sailed away in a graceful arc back the way he came. "Well, what I mean is...I don't want you to go, I guess. I...you're the only person I've ever felt any sort of friendship towards."

Jen'Zin smiled and patted her head, then whacked three more guards away with one swipe. "Dat's sweet, girl, but yer place be here, ya know?" He grabbed a hold of another guard's mace and whacked him in the face with it. "B'sides, I can' stay here, an' I can't guar'ntee yer safety if ya come wit' me."

"Take me with you anyways!" Claryssa said excitedly. Her emotions were getting the better of her, but she didn't care at all. Her dreams of adventure and the means to fulfill them stood in front of her, holding a guard three feet off the ground by his head, staring at her incredulously.

"Didn' ya jus' hear meh, Claryssa? I said I can't guar'ntee yer safety." He tossed the guard towards a small group running towards them, knocking them all over. He pumped his arm and grinned victoriously. "Strike! Anyways, ya can't come wit' me. Hell, ya ain' even trained fer any sorta combat. Ya can't defend yerself."

"I don't care!" She drew herself up and put on her cutest, pouty-est face. The one she had practiced until it flawlessly came to her and got her anything she wanted without fail. Jen'Zin's face faulted as his defenses fell. He sighed in resignation and kicked another guard out of the way. A loud screech sounded somewhere down the street and several screams accompanied it.

"Fine, fine. Ya win. IF ya can stay on Issa."

"Who-?" Claryssa didn't get to finish her question. The troll lifted her up effortlessly as a black and silver blur burst through the line of guards in a spray of blood, and skittered across the cobblestones. The raptor spotted her master and trotted over to Jen'Zin with accompanying whistles and clicks of joy. The troll shook his head and chuckled. He grabbed a hold of the reigns and hoised himself up, setting Claryssa down in front of him and looking around at the guards around him with a grin.

"Hold onta yer britches, girl. Issa be like da shadow itself." He let out a swift order in Zandali and snapped the reigns. Claryssa blinked.

The raptor let out a shriek and darted forward with impossible speed, causing Claryssa to give out a similar shriek and grip Jen'Zin's thighs for lack of anything else to grab onto. She refocused her grip on some straps that were on his armor and tried to keep her body pressed into his to keep from falling. Which was proving to be rather hard.

Issa's gait was not something she was prepared for. Or something any human was prepared for. A jarring, powerful, two-legged stride that swayed back and forth and seemed to move faster in a meandering, unpredictable path than in a straight line. The raptor inadvertently avoided pockets of pedestrians and guards almost as often as it plowed straight through them, and Claryssa was finding herself decidedly motion sick. She shot an evil glare up at Jen'Zin, who was thoroughly enjoying himself. He whooped and the raptor drove through another barricade, then made a sharp turn towards the gate, nearly throwing the poor blonde human from her ridiculously precarious perch between Jen'Zin's legs.

Then she saw the last stand. A whole regiment of soldiers had set up what looked like a fortress wall on the bridge leading out. Twenty-foot, spike-topped logs were propped in front of them, and there was no hope. Clarysse looked up at her companion and her fear turned into incredulity and chagrin as she saw Jen'Zin's face break out into glee. He shouted out again in Zandali, and the raptor responded with an ear-splitting cry. It reached the foot of the bridge.

It jumped.

Claryssa felt her stomach rise into her throat as the small lake below grew larger and larger. She whimpered as Jen'Zin laughed behind her. She promised to do her best to make the troll regret this if they survived.

The cold water engulfed them with a stinging slap, the impact driving the breath out of their lungs. They were driven almost to the bottom by the force generated by their descent. Issa floundered at the water and drove upwards towards the bank with powerful strokes of her tail. They broke the surface, and all three gasped as the raptor darted off, leaving behind roars of chagrin and missed crossbow bolts and arrows.

They continued to run for about a half an hour until Issa decided she needed a break and threw both of them off her back. Jen'Zin landed on his feet and caught Claryssa as she sailed unceremoniously through the air with a startled cry. He laughed and she punched him in the jaw.

"Ow! What wazzat fer?"

"You know full well!" Claryssa wiggled out of his grip and hit the ground wrong, falling onto her backside. She got up and tried to wring as much water as she could out of her dress and glared at the black and silver raptor as it gleefully chased down a rabbit. She pointed at the troll, who was still laughing. "You could have warned me about all that. Or say 'hey, get ready, girl, we be jumpin' offa dis bridge!' or something like that, but noooo." She turned and crossed her arms and huffed angrily. In all honesty, she wasn't angry so much as she was shaken, but he didn't need to know that.

"Aw, c'mon, don' be like dat. I toldja that ya could come IF ya could stay on Issa, which shoulda been a fair warnin' to ya." He was still chuckling a bit, and he placed a large hand on her shoulder. "List'n, I'm sorreh, yah? Now c'mon, lemme go dry off mah spare clothes and we can change outta dis wet stuff." He looked her over with a raised eyebrow. "I may hafta mess wit' some of mah clothes ta make 'em fit ya."

Claryssa made an indelicate sound, but trudged along in his wake as he chased down his raptor.

"Well, no turning back, I suppose."


	3. Our Bovine Friend

Adventure Loves Company, Too

Chapter 3: Our Bovine Friend

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It was about a week after their grand escape from Stormwind city, and Claryssa had already begun to regret her decision to go with Jen'Zin. She had not packed anything, and was feeling a little bit guilty about her companion having to make clothing for her. He was quite the excellent tailor, in all honesty, and her clothes were incredibly comfortable, but she still felt bad. She also didn't have any sort of exceptional skills to offer, and often had to be saved from the occasional spider. She was sitting in between Jen'Zin's legs on Issa, as she had been for the past days, watching the scenery pass by. She'd since gotten used to the jarring impact of the raptor's legs, and the swaying, erratic path she often took. They would have been farther along, but Issa was incredibly headstrong, and when she wanted a break, she WANTED a break.

Now was one of those times.

Issa let out a shrill whistle of irritation and jumped unexpectedly, taking even Jen'Zin by surprise. The two companions were vaulted out of the saddle and over the raptor's head, landing in an unceremonious heap some ten feet up the road. The raptor, victorious in her quest, danced off to go get something to eat. Jen'Zin growled and threw a sharp word to her, which she utterly ignored. He sighed.

"Um...Jen'Zin?" Claryssa asked, muffled.

"Huh?" He looked down, and quickly got up. They'd landed awkward, and the bulk of Jen'Zin's weight had thus been put on the girl, nearly crushing her. "Sorreh 'bout that, yah?" He laughed a bit awkwardly, helping her up. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I think so," Claryssa replied, coughing. "Isn't there a raptor obedience school, or something?" She shot a dark look in the direction their ride had taken, and sighed. "She kicks us off at least once per day."

"I know, I know. But dat be what I like 'bout her, ya know? Mos' raptors ya meet be eit'ah mean-spirited or be totally docile, and Issa's got a personal'ty, ya know?" He laughed a bit and streched. "C'mon, den. We may as well walk."

Even though they'd been travelling a long time, they'd only just exited Elwynn forest. Between Issa kicking them off and the slow pace they had to maintain so Claryssa could keep up, and their all-around goofing off, they were making shockingly slow time. Jen'Zin had said that he had stuff he wanted to do in Stranglethorn Vale, so they had set off south. There was a small argument that started up about which path they should take. Claryssa suggested that they go west into Westfall, then turn south and go through a sliver of Duskwood, saying that it was the safest route to travel. Jen'Zin, however, said that it would be faster to just go straight south, and after a half an hour of trying to convince the other, they finally settled the argument with a game of rock-paper-scissors. Jen'Zin won.

It was thus that Claryssa was gazing mournfully at the gray scenery of Duskwood, hearing the skitter of spiders just outside her range of vision, and wholly regretting not laying down paper.

"It be okay, girl," Jen'Zin said with a hearty grin. "I'll protect ya from any spidah dat decides tah have ya fer dinner, be it big or small!" He laughed, referring to a couple of days previously, when Claryssa had frozen in fear when confronted with a spider about the size of her pinky nail.

"Yeah, yeah. I know, but still." She sighed, scuffing her boots slightly at the ground, walking along behind him. She looked at him, and cocked her head. She hadn't noticed before, but even in the gloom, his golden tattoos showed clearly, seeming almost to glow. She commented on this.

"Ah...? Oh, yah, almos' forgot 'bout dese..." He touched a line that ran down his forearm and laughed. "Dey were da result of a bet I made wit' a Blood Elf a while back. He said he'd made a new kinda tattoo ink dat would show on any skin an' nevah fade. I had a bit too much ta drink and bet that it wouldn' show. I lost." He laughed again, shaking his head. "It be some kinda enchanted gold, or somethin', I forget exactly. It be a bit irritatin' when I be tryin' to get around places unobserved. I can't cover it up." He sighed and looked around a bit. He made a face. "Not a very pretty place, is it?"

Claryssa nodded, and they continued on for an hour or so, in more or less silence. They were getting increasingly depressed, their jovial spirits more or less obliterated by the dark atmosphere around them. After a while, however, Jen'Zin spotted something ahead of them and jogged forward. Claryssa ran after him as best she could. Jen'Zin examined the inert form and let out an oath in Zandali. Claryssa joined him as he pushed the tauren over onto his back.

He was a smooth gray color, his face unlined and a large ring in his nose. His brown horns curved forward, and his black hair was tied in braids on either side of his face. He wore leather armor that showed large evidence of battle, and a feathered staff was lying nearby. He was also out cold.

Jen'Zin checked his body over, then closed his eyes. His hands began to glow green, and he ran them slowly over the tauren's body, leaving a fading green trail of light. His patient coughed and the troll grinned.

"Welcome back ta consciousness, man. Yer lucky I came 'round when I did."

The tauren opened a bleary brown eye and turned his head to look at his savior. He blinked, and opened the other one. He stared at Jen'Zin and his goofy grin for about ten seconds before he groaned.

"This is now definitely the worst day of my life." He sat up and yawned. He looked at the tattered condition of his armor and sighed. He got up and picked up his staff and turned back to Jen'Zin. "I appreciate the aid. Unfortunately, I don't have anything to offer in return-." He stopped, his eyes finding Claryssa. He raised an eyebrow. "A human."

Claryssa started, backing a bit behind Jen'Zin unconsciously. "Yes."

The tauren blinked and sighed. "Listen, thanks again, but I have to get going. I have a band of zombies I need to track down, so if you'll excuse me." He turned and and started to walk off, but stopped when he heard Jen'Zin start laughing. "May I ask what is so funny?"

Jen'Zin doubled over, laughing even harder. "Undead? It be obvious dat you got yer arse handed to ya earlier, and ya still go after dem? You stray off da path, and you'll die, man." He sighed and righted himself and shook his head.

"They stole something, so I must go after them."

"Oh?"

The tauren turned, irritation clear on his face. "A gift from my mother. I need to get it back, it's the only thing I have from her. If you'll excuse me." He turned again.

"Ah! Wait!" Jen'Zin smiled sheepishly and spread his hands apologetically. "I'm sorreh, man. I didn't realize dat be what yah be after. I can und'rstand, yah? Lemme help ya."

Both Claryssa and the tauren stared at him with dumbstruck expressions.

"Why should I?"

"Ta make up fer me laughin' at ya? Plus, it'll be easier wit' two people."

"What about her?"

Jen'Zin turned to look at her and shrugged. "Take 'er wit' us, I guess. I know she might be a liabil'ty, but I can' just leave 'er."

The tauren shook his head and extended a hand. "My name's Gelt."

"Jen'Zin." The troll shook his hand briefly. "Da girl be Claryssa. She kinda be my cure fer boredom."

Claryssa huffed a bit and crossed her arms and said nothing more. Gelt said nothing either, and turned and started into the forest. "Well, she'd better watch herself, lest she find herself on an undead's dinner plate. Let's get moving. I don't think they're very far."

Jen'Zin shrugged and turned, lifting up Claryssa suddenly. She swore, startled, and found herself being held by one arm as her friend started off after the Tauren. She muttered a bit indignantly but put up with it, and they were soon jogging alongside their new companion. They ran together for about twenty minutes, while he was filling them in on a few details and answering some questions. Claryssa quickly saw that he gave the appearance as a stoic, depressed person, but she also saw that he had a quick, sarcastic with that never failed to make fun of everything. He then held up a hand and they stopped. Ahead was a small cemetery, and Claryssa raised an eyebrow.

"We're nowhere near Raven Hill. What's this cemetery?"

"This is a big wood," Gelt replied, not taking his eyes off the graveyard. "This is a small cemetery, and very old. It's probably long since forgotten, which is why that band of undead made their base here." He turned to Jen'Zin, who was making a weird face. He raised an eyebrow. "You okay there, troll?"

"Yah," Jen'Zin replied, his voice sounding a bit weird. "I be fine." He sniffed, and shook his head. "I jus' fergot dat I have a weakness ta da Forsaken."

"Oh? What's that?"

"Dey make me sneeze, man."

There was a silence. Gelt inhaled slowly, his hand going to his face. He sighed and rubbed his thumb against his nose. "That's going to be a problem."

"Yah, sorreh 'bout dat." He sniffed again and shook his head vigorously, nearly hitting Claryssa with his tusks. He patted her on the head and apologized with a slight grin.

They watched the small cemetery for about a half an hour. It was only about 40 yards square, with a small spattering of tombstones; most of the others had fallen over. There was a large mausoleum in the center, of which a tree had mostly taken over. As Claryssa examined it from afar, she saw that there were actually two trees on either side that, through the forces of time and growth, had grown so large that they went up the sides of the mausoleum and intertwined above it. It was just as she realized this when the door creaked open. Several figures emerged, talking to each other loudly in a language that Jen'Zin identified as Gutterspeak, and obviously incapacitated by some sort of mind-altering substance. Claryssa wrinkled her nose.

"That's them, all right," Gelt muttered, shrinking down into the sparse foliage a little more. "See that tall one? With the funky walk? Yeah, he's the leader." He snorted, but retained his further commentary. He glanced over to Jen'Zin, and then to Claryssa. "You should stay hidden here, girl. No offense, but you're a bit chewy. You'd wind up being a nice tidbit to them, even if we protected you." He grunted then, and began talking tactics to Jen'Zin in Orcish.

Claryssa pouted, listening to them converse in harsh whispers. She found that Orcish was a very unpleasant language to listen to, and yawned. After about ten minutes of heavy debate, accompanied by roars and laughs of the Forsaken, they finally agreed on...something. Jen'Zin patted her on the head reassuringly, and handed her a small dagger.

"Jus' in case one o' dem spidahs comes along, ya know?" he whispered with a slight chuckle. He then nodded to Gelt and the both fanned out.

About two minutes later, a low whistle sounded of to the right of the cemetery. One of the Forsaken looked over in that direction and motioned his friends over. They were nearly at the fence on that side when the last undead in their group erupted in bright white fire.

A moonkin burst out of the trees on the left side of the graveyard, hurling white and blue spells at the group of undead, obliterating them easily in their shock. The clamor alerted the Forsaken still inside the mausoleum, and a score of roughly armored undead poured out of it, shouting to each other and at Gelt in Gutterspeak. They charged toward him, and even as the first line of soldiers was engulfed in another wave of white fire, the back of the group was struck hard by electricity. Jen'Zin stepped out of his hiding spot and threw another wave at them.

The group of undead recoiled and hesitated, not prepared for a two-pronged attack. The reality of their situation dawned on them, and they gave cries of dismay and rage.

At about that time, Issa jumped the far fence of the cemetery and plowed through the demoralized Forsaken with gleeful screeches. Gelt hesitated a bit, surprised by the raptor's sudden appearance, and Jen'Zin shouted at his mount encouragingly. She spun, kicking up dead grass and soil, and charged through the group again. Jen'Zin charged ahead again, wielding a large sliver hammer. It sparked with electricity as he charged through the nearly destroyed group, allowing inertia to carry the hammer through the skulls of the remaining soldiers. He laughed and danced a little jig of morbid glee with Issa, and attached the hammer back onto Issa's saddle.

The moonkin stormed over, turning back into Gelt about halfway over. A solid string of curses in Taur-ahe, Orcish, and Goblin spewed out of his mouth and his hands were reached out to strangle the still-laughing troll in front of him. He regained his composure enough to hold back his hands and resort to yelling at him in Orcish, using broad, violent sweeps of his hands for punctuation. Jen'Zin took his abuse with a grin, still chuckling. Claryssa sighed and shook her head, emerging from her hiding spot and making her way over to the pair.

"So, what is our bovine friend mad about?" Claryssa asked as she stood next to Jen'Zin, her arms crossed and her mood the same. She was rather sick of everyone speaking languages that she couldn't understand. Sick enough to put her person in jeopardy by insulting an already enraged Tauren that was a good three feet taller than herself. He rather tactfully ignored her.

"He be mad 'cause I ignored his strategy," Jen'Zin said with a grin. "He be pretty good at dat sorta t'ing, but takin' orders nevah been a strong point wit' me, ya know? Besides, da way I did it was fastah." He laughed, the same harsh laugh that always somehow gave Claryssa chills. "He jus' butthurt 'cause I killed more'n he did."

"The ones your raptor killed don't count towards your final total," Gelt snapped, crossing his arms and snorting. Jen'Zin laughed again, patting Issa on the neck. The raptor looked very pleased with herself and clicked happily. The tauren shook his head and started over to the mausoleum. Jen'Zin continued to chuckle.

"So...what is that hammer?" Claryssa asked, trying to find something else to talk about. It was obviously two-handed, with its handle wrapped in purple cloth, and gold inlay on the head. Jen'Zin raised an eyebrow.

"Ah, dat...I swiped it offa paladin I killed some years back. It been rather useful in situations like dis." He stretched his arms forward and then patted his friend on the head. "Don' worry, t'ough. I doubt it was anyone ya knew."

Claryssa snorted but said nothing. She had never known anyone who was a paladin, and rather liked it that way. All she had seen of the paladin ilk were aloof and self-absorbed in their practice. She handed the troll back his dagger, which he tossed off into the woods. She raised an eyebrow.

"Picked it up in a tree." He grinned and crossed over to the mausoleum and looked in.

Gelt was busy rummaging through the boxes and bags the undead had in the room. Jen'Zin entered, and immediately sneezed, and backed out of the crypt. The tauren jumped a bit and sent a dark glare over his shoulder, but said nothing.

"I guess you weren't kidding on that sneezing part," Claryssa noted, sitting next to where Jen'Zin was standing. She sighed and shivered a bit. "It's kinda chilly out here. You wouldn't happen to have any sweaters sown, would you?"

"I got a couple'a blankets," was the reply. He walked over to Issa and rummaged through the saddlebag that was attached to the back of the saddle, and pulled out a slightly battered wool blanket. He walked back over and draped it over Claryssa, who smiled.

"So...has he found whatever it was he was looking for yet?"

In answer to her question, a triumphant roar sounded from inside the mausoleum. Gelt reemerged, dancing around slightly, holding something small in his hand. A rare smile was on his face and he stopped to gaze at what was in his hand. Claryssa got up and walked over to him.

"What is it?" she asked, trying to see. Gelt grinned at her and held it in front of her.

It was a very small jewel, only a carat and a half, cut as a marquise and attached to a fine gold chain with a bracket. It was a dark reddish-purple. Claryssa cocked her head and studied it.

"I don't recognize it. Some kind of ruby or garnet? Why is it so small?"

"It isn't a garnet. I don't know exactly what kind of stone it is, but my mother left it to me when I was small. I've always been fascinated by it, because it changes color depending on the light. Right now, it's dark, so it shows that dark reddish color. But in the bright sun, it has the most beautiful green color that puts emeralds to shame." He sighed happily at it, relieved that he had it once again in his possession. He undid the clasp and put it around his neck, hiding the jewel under his armor. He then returned to his stoic, morose self. "I thank you for your help, and would offer to repay you, but I have nothing of value that I am willing to part with."

"Naw, man, I wouldn't ask ta take anyt'ing o'yers, 'specially not aftah you described it in such lovin' detail," Jen'Zin replied, laughing. "T'ink of it as an act'a good will, yah?"

Gelt nodded and sighed. "Well, it's a long way to Stranglethorn. I should get going." He started to leave, and put his fingers to his mouth and let out a shrill series of whistles. Claryssa blinked.

"You're going to Stranglethorn?"

"Yes."

"So are we!"

"Ah?" Gelt raised an eyebrow, stopping and turning to look at her. "What are you suggesting?"

"We could travel together?" Claryssa said, shrugging. Jen'Zin gave a nod of approval, but said nothing. Gelt thought about this. As he did so, a pearly white kodo lumbered into the clearing, snuffling at the dead trees. It stopped and snorted at Gelt, who absently patted it on the nose.

"I suppose so. There's safety in numbers, I guess. Not like I have anything better to do, or anything pressing in Stranglethorn."

Claryssa was a bit taken aback by that. "Then why go?"

"I just want to see it," was the shrugged reply. "Well, we should get going. I'd like to see the sun again before the month is out."

Jen'Zin sneezed in agreement.


	4. Unlikely Target

Adventure Loves Company, Too

Chapter 4: Unlikely Target

* * *

The seemingly effervescent gloom of Duskwood permeated the fragile shell of cheer that the small group had, and quickly dampened their spirits. Gelt had a habit of catalyzing the effects with his default gloom mode, and Claryssa was getting surly. Jen'Zin noticed this, and started to get a bit quiet, which Gelt noticed and thus got even gloomier. So, the death spiral continued until the three of them fell into silence, broken a bit by Issa's uncomfortable chitters and the low rumble of Gelt's kodo. After a while, though, Jen'Zin felt brave enough to speak up.

"So, uh, who's hungry?" He grinned nervously and looked at his companions. Gelt grunted and Claryssa harrumphed in agreement. They slowed and backed off the road a little bit, and Jen'Zin built up a campfire and Gelt wandered into the forest to find something edible. Claryssa stared into the fire, feeling a bit better now that Gelt was out of her sight.

"Sorry about being so mean, Jen'Zin," she muttered, tossing bits of stick into the fire. "I guess between the gloom of the forest and Gelt's pessimism, I can't seem to think of anything cheery."

"Dat be okay, Clar," he said, patting her on the head as he always did. She decided not to comment on the nickname at this point in time. "I understand whatcha mean. Tauren be a very down-ta-eart' bunch, and rarely have a good sense o' humor. Gelt even more so." He made a face, referring to the bad references he had made in several of his equally bad jokes. He shrugged, however. "Best ya can do is not let it get to ya. 'M sure dat as soon as we get outta dis spider-infested forest, da sooner all of us'll lighten up, yah?"

Claryssa gave a wan smile and sighed. Gelt then reentered with a slightly smoking, very sad-looking deer. It was quickly skinned and butchered, and some thin steaks were being grilled on a makeshift grill made by Gelt out of a breastplate found discarded nearby. After a small meal with the remnants thrown to Issa, they remounted and started off again.

They made camp that night in a small clearing. If you could call it night. The only discernible difference between night and day in Duskwood was the increased chittering of spider legs. Claryssa unconsciously inched closer to Jen'Zin, and got a reassuring pat on the head in return. She smiled nervously and listened to Gelt go on about the various spider venoms and how they affected the body, depending on where you got bit. IF you didn't get instantly killed by the spider's fangs. They ate the rest of the small steaks that were carved off of the skinny deer and pulled out their bedrolls and settled in for bed.

Except for Jen'Zin, who had lost the game of rock-paper-scissors to decide who on the first watch.

Claryssa shivered in her oversized blanket, listening to the chilling chatter of arachnids, punctuated by Gelt's rumbling snore. Jen'Zin had disappeared, hidden in the trees near their camp. Every now and then she'd hear a chattering death squeal from a spider who had wandered too close to his post. She sighed and tried to relax, and didn't even remember falling asleep.

Jen'Zin sighed and scratched his chin. Sitting in one place doing nothing wasn't really his forte. He growled and lazily flung another ball of electricity at a spider. It hissed spitefully and spasmed onto its back and died. The troll sighed and relaxed in his tree. Another two hours until he could wake up that smug Tauren and get some sleep. He jumped over several trees and settled down again.

A thin shadow took advantage of Jen'Zin's relocation. It had been holding its breath right below the troll, trying not to be noticed. It slipped around the tree it had its back pressed against and moved towards the camp. It paused, watching the two figures sleep. It noticed the smaller of the two and crept toward it. There was a small rustle of paper and a pause. The shadow pulled out a small dagger and a thick piece of cloth and approached Claryssa.

She didn't know why she woke up. She just did. She didn't even feel anything, she just snapped awake suddenly. Just in time to see the vague outline plunge a dagger toward her. She screamed and rolled, getting tangled in her oversized blankets. She stumbled out of them as Gelt gave out a roar and threw a searing ball of green light at the attacker, who evaded it easily. She did not, however, evade the bolt of lightning.

The attacker flickered back into existence and gave out a series of foul curses and flung a dagger at Claryssa in a last-ditch attempt as Jen'Zin gave a cry of victory and leaped out of the trees. The girl's legs moved faster than she had anticipated, and she danced out of the way of the projectile. Jen'Zin landed next to the would-be assassin and grabbed it, electricity surging. The assassin went limp, passed out.

The three of them breathed heavily, and slowly began to laugh shakily. Claryssa, who had never had anything remotely dangerous happen to her, felt like she was in a fog that made everything move in slow motion. She was disoriented, her eyes wide, her heart pounding, her balance thrown off. She staggered into something covered in coarse fur, and looked up to see Gelt looking at her with an eyebrow raised. She vaguely heard Jen'Zin laugh.

"Poor t'ing, got an adren'lin rush." His voice sounded miles away. She felt something heavy on her head and turned sharply, seeing the troll grinning at her, his hand on her head again. She flashed a quick smile at him and slowly started to calm down. She shivered, her hands shaking.

"Never had a dagger thrown at me," she muttered, her eyes unfocused and her muscles twitching. It was altogether unpleasant, and she felt a blanket being laid over her shoulders.

"Yeh, well, go run laps, 'r somethin'," Jen'Zin suggested. It occurred to Claryssa that that was wa spectacular idea and went to run around the campsite a few dozen times. The troll shook his head and returned his attention to the one who attacked his friend.

A cloth was wrapped around its head, and Jen'Zin quickly undid it, then pulled back, astonished. He looked at Gelt, who returned his look.

The assassin was a Night Elf. A rather short, female Night Elf, to be exact.

Gelt's eyebrows furrowed and Jen'Zin rifled through her pockets. He pulled out a bit of tattered paper and unwrapped it. It was a wanted poster. His eyebrows shot up and he showed it to Gelt, who stared at it in shock.

"Wait, what?" He took the poster and his eye twitched. "'Wanted: Claryssa Silverhart, for the murder of twenty soldiers and assisting a criminal in his escape. Reward, 1,000 gold.' Are you serious? The girl can hardly hold a dagger, let alone kill someone...or something. What's the meaning of this? And what's with this reward?" He waved the parchment at the troll angrily.

"Well, we were kinda obvious in our escape..." Jen'Zin ran his fingers through his hair. "She wanted ta come wit' me, and I couldn' resist, yah? I guess dat t'ey included her in my escape plans, an' you know how anyt'in' havin' ta do wit' an enemy gets multiplied ev'ry time it be retold."

Gelt grunted and crumpled the paper up and tossed it into the fire. "Humans are so stupid sometimes. They only see what they want to see, and don't even stop to think about it, no matter how insane their assumptions."

Jen'Zin remained quiet and disarmed the Night Elf, and quickly tied her up. He then tossed all of the poisons he found off into the forest. The satisfying sound of breaking glass accompanied each toss. He then threw all of the weapons into the fire.

Claryssa finished her circuit around the camp and slowed to a stop and panted, her hands on her knees. Jen'Zin grinned at her and began to break down camp. Fifteen minutes later, they were headed out, the Night Elf tied to the back of Gelt's kodo like a dead deer. The girl yawned from her place between Jen'Zin's legs and rested against his chest, trying to get back to sleep. It was quite hard. Her companions were talking among themselves in Orcish again, and Issa was prancing. She did, however, fall into a slight doze, using Jen'Zin's armor straps as stability again.

"_You know that we aren't going to be able to approach anything remotely Alliance now?_" Gelt muttered, snapping his reigns slightly to keep his kodo from lumbering off the trail. "_Every bounty hunter and adventurer looking to make an extra copper is going to be looking for her. She's obviously an easy target, and they aren't going to expect her to have any defenses._"

"_I know, I know. 'S not my fault dat dose idiots in Stormwind are overreact to da slightes' t'ing_," Jen'Zin replied, his voice surly. "_Yah, I put 'er in danger, and I told 'er dat dere would be danger, but she ignored it an' came 'long wit' me anyway. If ya wanna yell at anyone, yell at 'er, not me_."

Gelt sighed and rubbed his nose. "_Why did I agree to come with you guys?_"

"_I be an irresistible white-hot ball 'o charisma?_" Jen'Zin supplied with a grin.

"_You're being facetious, of course._"

The response was a grin.


	5. Twinnish

Adventure Loves Company, Too

Chapter 5: Twinnish

* * *

Slowly, the chill of Duskwood lifted, and Claryssa could catch a faint whiff of fragrant soil and lush trees. Jen'Zin had an almost perpetual grin on his face, and even Gelt had cheered up.

Their would-be assassin, however, did not.

Her name was Thalassa, and she was a surly, 6'2" Night Elf female, with gorgeous purple skin and a wealth of blue-black hair that caught light like a midnight sky's stars. Her attitude, however, spoiled all of this. She was surly and spiteful, using swearwords as often as she did commas, and had an overall dislike for all things living. She insisted that they call her "Thal."

"Ov'rall, I mus' say dat dis past month has been fantastic," Jen'Zin said cheerily, pausing in a rare break in the trees to absorb some sunlight. "New friends, good times, an' life's gotta li'l bit o' spice again."

Gelt grunted and shifted in his saddle. "I'll just be glad to get off this beast. I doubt I'm going to ever be having children if I stay in it much longer."

Thalassa growled from her spot behind him. Without her daggers, she was still fairly lethal, but she had found out firsthand just how hard it was to twist a Tauren's head off. Gelt's thick neck muscles had nullified her efforts, even when she caught him off guard.

"How much farther to Stranglethorn Vale?" Claryssa asked, looking up at her friend. "I'm dying to see the sky again. Or at least to be warm. And away from spiders."

"Yeh, well, dere won' be much sky in Stranglethorn fer da mos' part. It be mostly jungle. But it is warm, an' all ya gotta look out fer are da raptors an' stuff."

Claryssa gave her grinning companion a blank glare. He continued to chuckle for no reason at all, and set to humming what sounded like some child's rhyme.

"Whatever, just as soon as we hit civilization, I'm out," Thal muttered darkly, tightening her already crossed arms. "I bet that retard king has already gotten rid of your bounty, girl, so you're of no use to me anymore."

"Yeh, but I'm not one ta let someone who had da intent ta hurt one o' my friends go wit'out a bit o' retribution," Jen'Zin replied, his smile not wavering, and his tone not darkening. Claryssa shivered a little at that. "Ya tried ta take down one o' da few sane humans out dere, and I won' forgive ya for dat."

Thal grunted and said no more, continuing to sulk. Gelt yawned.

"I can't wait to get to a river, or something. It's been forever since I've been able to sit down and just fish." He gave a forlorn little sigh. "My brothers and I would spend _days_ just fishing. Ah, to be young."

"Yeh can' be dat old," Jen'Zin commented. "Yeh're not a day ovah twenty-two, I can tell."

"Almost twenty-three, actually," Gelt replied in a surly, aloof manner. The troll grunted a bit sourly. Gelt snorted, "What's it to you, anyways? You can't be that old, either. You joke all day and have neither a sliver of maturity nor sense. What are you, nineteen?"

"_Twenty_-nine," was the growled reply. "I don' act mature 'cause it be overrated. Maturity in large doses makes people t'ink you're worth their time. I'd rather act like an idiot and not get inta trouble t'an act mah age and nevah be left alone."

Gelt was a bit taken aback by his companion's sudden irritation and muttered an apology, but the troll's mood did not improve much. Claryssa could tell that he did not like revealing his age, and tried to wrap her mind around him being ten years older than she, even though he acted like he was around her age. She suddenly felt like a child again. She hung her head slightly and sighed, which seemed to shake her friend out of his foul mood a little and he patted her on the head comfortingly.

Thal, however, laughed at the tension between the two. It was an unpleasant laugh, harsh and cruel. It reminded Claryssa a bit of Jen'Zin's laugh, but his didn't have the ring of sadistic mirth in it that the Night Elf's had. It made her cringe. Gelt's teeth set and Jen'Zin muttered a bit to himself. Claryssa couldn't understand what he was saying, but from the sound of it, it wasn't anything nice. She made a mental note to bully her friend into teaching her Zandali-or at the very least, Orcish.

The rest of the day passed in a silent but tense truce. The troll and tauren had both agreed not to talk to one another until their irrational tempers cooled. Not only to protect the girl from any violence that might arise, but also to prevent giving the Elf something else to laugh about. The forest around them began to brighten considerably, and then cut away, leaving them in a glorious late afternoon amid the rocky soil of the mountain range that separated Duskwood from Stranglethorn Vale. They stopped for a few minutes, soaking in the sun. Issa whistled and clicked happily, her eyes closed in pleasure as the sun warmed her scales.

They set off again, and quickly found themselves out of the clay-filled dirt of the mountain and into more lush, fragrant soil, and trees quickly sprouted up around them. Claryssa tried to identify them, but she had never seen anything like them before, and could only gaze in wonder at the broad trunks and towering height. They were soon engulfed by the jungle, and the cries of strange birds and creatures filled their ears, adding to the atmosphere of mystery and adventure. The heat soared, the sun's rays kept captive by the sheer mass of the leaves overhead. The humidity soared as well, and the girl soon found herself coated with sweat.

Jen'Zin's mood brightened with every passing mile, and by the time they had made camp that night, he was back to his usual, cheery self. He hummed old songs that he learned as a child as he tended to the campsite, making the fire and making mosquito nets out of old blankets. He grinned when Claryssa asked him what he was doing, and he began to recite a great big list of all sorts of nasty critters who would just love to get their mandibles into a sweet little girl's flesh. Claryssa shuddered and waved him off.

She wandered off a ways, despite the small nagging feeling of danger, following the sound of water and quickly found a clear, swift stream. It was small, and the water was surprisingly cool, despite the heat of the jungle. It was nearly night, but the dim jungle still felt like a furnace. She knelt beside the stream and washed the back of her neck with the cool water, and a wave of relief washed over her. She sighed and sat there for a few minutes, listening to the water and the calls of birds.

A dagger was placed suddenly at her throat. She froze and stared straight ahead. Her hair was gripped roughly and she was turned suddenly, and faced a troll who was not one she knew. He held her hair in a strong grip, and the dagger's tip was placed lightly on her larynx. She stared in fear at her sudden captor, who, despite his vast size and the outrageous spikes on his armor, had sneaked up on her without so much as a rustle. He muttered to her darkly in Zandali, and she stared at him dumbly. Irritation sparked on his face and he growled again, this time in Orcish. She shook her head slightly.

"I-I don't-" she whimpered, tears forming in her eyes. Her captor hestated a little bit, but then redoubled his grip on her hair and growled at her again, still in a language she could not understand. It was the second time she had been confronted by a dagger, but this time was drastically different from before. Before, there was a strange adrenaline surge that propelled her muscles into a super mode, saving her by the need to stay alive. But here, she was caught, and there was no hope for help. She could die here, not twenty feet from her friends and protectors, and they wouldn't know. She could scream, but her throat would be cut before they even got here, and the troll would already be running away, laughing to himself about the stupid human girl he'd so easily caught by the river.

She tried desperately to hold in her tears and sobs, but soon couldn't. She started to cry. Her captor faltered again. He suddenly looked incredibly guilty and sighed. He sheathed his dagger and released her hair and patted her on the head awkwardly. He whispered to her in Zandali, trying to make her feel better for some odd reason.

It was then that the troll was lifted, flipped and slammed hard into the ground by a thick silver-blue arm. Jen'Zin snarled at him, but then stopped. He stared first in shock, then in disbelief, and finally in joy at the troll he had pinned down on the ground. He hauled him up, and Claryssa saw that her captor had a similar grin of joy on his face. The two of them embraced and danced around each other in an insane little dance of glee. They roared at each other in Zandali and punched each others shoulders, and finally just settled to laughing, their arms around one another's shoulders.

"What is all this noise?" Gelt roared, stomping into the clearing. "I was this close to actually falling asleep, and suddenly all I hear is trolls laughing!"

"Ah, sorreh, man, sorreh! It was jus'-" Jen'Zin faltered and just laughed. He looked down to Claryssa, tears still rolling down her cheeks, staring at him in disbelief. "Aw, poor t'ing. Sorreh, 's okay now, girl..." He knelt down and offered a hand to her, which she took shakily. He pulled her into a rough hug, and she clung desperately to him, still scared, and happy that she was safe again. "'S okay now, ya know?" He grinned and pet her. She didn't notice that the other troll had looked away, a look of embarrassment and guilt on his face. "C'mon, den. Le's go back to da fire and I'll 'splain dis all, okay?"

They returned to the fire, and Thal glared at the girl, upset that she was still alive. Claryssa ignored her and continued to cling to Jen'Zin, refusing to look at anyone else. They all sat around the fire and were silent for a while. Jen'Zin continued to pet his whimpering companion, and waiting a bit for her fear to subside before speaking.

"Alrigh', now dat yeh've calmed down a bit, I'd like ta introduce ya to someone."

Claryssa looked up at him and sniffed. He chuckled and motioned toward the other troll.

"Dis here be my brot'er, Gat."

Everyone around the fire looked between the two in some surprise, and the similarities were soon seen. They both were the same height, and had the same face. Gat, however, had larger, undecorated tusks. His hair was also a blazing scarlet that was pulled back into a wild, loose ponytail. He refused, however, to look at Claryssa. She felt a little insulted by this, until Jen'Zin intervened.

"He feels bad 'bout makin' ya cry," he explained. She snorted. It seemed odd that he would, when that seemed to be his goal. Her companion gave her a small smile. "It be one o' his major weaknesses. He can' resist cute kids or crying women, 'specially when dey be as cute as you." He patted her on the head and she felt at once a bit guilty about being mad at him. He then conversed with him a bit in an odd language she had not heard before, and Gelt made an indelicate sound.

"What are they speaking?" She asked him. Jen'Zin gave both of them a quick grin before going back to talking with his brother.

"Twinnish," the tauren grunted. He looked even surlier than usual. "It's a disgusting habit of twins, especially identical twins. Of course, there's no such thing as identical in troll families; everyone looks a bit different. But anyways, sometimes, the twins have such a strong bond that they form their own language. It's irritating and uncalled for." He glared at the two, but said nothing else. Claryssa watched the two, looking between the two faces, spotting the more subtle differences that distinguished them.

Suddenly, the talks were ceased and Jen'Zin punched his brother in the shoulder, shaking his head. "He wanted to know where I was. He could smell me on ya, and he was tryin' ta ask ya where I was. But he don' speak common. Refuses to, act'ally. He understands it damn well, but won' speak it." He glared at his brother who gave him an impassive look. "An'way, he says he be sorreh 'bout scarin' ya so much back dere. He jus' wanted to make sure dat you weren' hidin' any sorta tricks or nothin'. He lives a risky sorta life."

Thal snorted. "A rogue, letting his prey go just because it starts crying. That's pathetic." The troll ignored her, and her face flushed. "If you ask me, I'd say that's the mark of being weak. Of being afraid."

Gat muttered something in Orcish, and Thal sputtered. She stood stiffly, turned on her heel and strode over to her bed. Jen'Zin and Gelt chuckled.

"What did he say?" Claryssa asked of Gelt.

"You don't want to know. And it's best you didn't."

Claryssa pouted. He and Jen'Zin stood and made their way to their own netted beds. Claryssa stayed where she was, staring into the fire, listening to the melodic chirp of tree frogs that had replaced the discordant cry of jungle birds. She thought about how fast everything had happened that evening, and yawned. She felt eyes on her and glanced over to Gat, who didn't look away quite fast enough. He returned her look with a guilty sort of shrug. She noticed that his eyes were a bright sapphire blue, unlike the red of his brothers. She then gave a small little smile and got up. She walked over and settled into bed, her fear from earlier forgotten, and she fell asleep almost immediately.

Claryssa got up the next day earlier than everyone else for once. Well, almost everyone. Gat was awake, eking the last bit of heat out of their campfire. He gave her a crooked salute and continued with his task. She knelt down in front of the fire and watched. She absently threw a small stone into the fire, which turned out to be a dirt clod that actually broke apart when it hit a bit of flame that Gat was focusing on and obliterated it. The troll stared at the smoking bit of earth inside the dying fire and gave her an irritated look. He focused his spoke on a different part of the fire, the blaze building up at the coaxing of the bit of stick the troll was holding. Claryssa, quite on purpose this time, sought out another dirt clod and obliterated that one as well.

And so the game continued, Gat warming up to it and grinning as he tried in vain to rescue the fire. At last, the embers succumbed to the earth, and the flames died as the rest of their companions stirred. They broke down camp. Or, to be more precise, Jen'Zin broke down camp and Gelt argued with Thal about the riding arrangements. When they were all ready, Gat whistled several times, and a regal-looking raptor of blazing scarlet and a rich, golden-yellow strode out of the forest. They all mounted up and rode out of the clearing, heading farther south into the jungles.


	6. Temporary Setbacks

Adventure Loves Company, Too

Chapter 6: Temporary Setbacks

* * *

It was hot.

And not the nice, sun-shiny hot.

It was humid.

Claryssa was decidedly surly. She had not had a proper bath in several days, and the accumulated sweat and grime and dead mosquitoes was more than enough to drive a girl mad. Coupled with sitting on top of a raptor, in between the legs of a troll, she was half expecting a giant hand to reach down from between the trees to test her with a fork. The rest of the party seemed to be in varying levels of discomfort, aside from Gat, who had apparently been living in Stranglethorn for quite some time. But even Jen'Zin was not immune to the heat of the jungle, and had removed most of his leather armor to try to cool down.

The other thing that was bothering Claryssa was how vague Jen'Zin had been in describing Strangethorn Vale. He had mentioned raptors, and she'd seen one or two feasting on some dead creature whose identity she had no wish to know. The things that were the most trouble were the-

"MOTHERFUCKING TIGERS!" Thal screamed out, nearly ripped from the back of Gelt's kodo by one of the creatures. She flung a dagger at the cat, catching it between the eyes. It twitched and fell to the ground, dead. She proceeded to mutter to herself in Darnassian for the better part of an hour.

The Vale was beautiful, though. At least, that's what Claryssa thought before she saw her first bridge.

"You're joking, right?" She asked of Jen'Zin, who gave her a quizzical look. She looked back at the rotting, green planks of the spindly little bridge, stretching for at least 100 feet, and at its lowest, a good 150 feet over the murky water of the shallow river below. She whimpered as Jen'Zin urged Issa to cross over the rickety thing, and Claryssa tried her best to not wonder how old the thing was.

It took Gat about ten minutes to convince Gelt to cross with his kodo, and the two waited for Jen'Zin to finish crossing. Claryssa could see the two of them arguing, and could vaguely hear their shouts in orcish. She watched as Gelt waved the troll off with an irritated gesture and kicked his kodo forward. The beast moved forward hesitantly, not trusting the thin, damp planks to support its weight. They held, though, and he and Gat made it across safely.

"How much farther is it to Grom'gol? I want to get the next zeppelin out of this furnace and back to somewhere that I don't have to swim through the air," Gelt asked sourly. His fur was matted and his once-neat braids were undone and ragged.

"Anot'ah day or so, man, don' worry so much," Jen'Zin said, grinning. "We be gettin' dere soon enough, yah?" He nudged Issa back into a walk, only to get both him and Claryssa thrown off with an irritated screech.

"You're going to have to do something about her," Gelt noted, watching the raptor prance about in her new freedom.

"Yeah, yeah," Jen'Zin brushed himself off and pulled Claryssa back up, then started talking with his brother in their bizarre language. About what, she had no idea, but Jen'Zin was getting increasingly agitated, and Claryssa could feel that she had been brought into the conversation, what with the two of them gesturing towards her. She made an irritated face and watched the two brothers.

Finally, Jen'Zin gave in to whatever his brother was suggesting and turned to Claryssa. "Ya'll be ridin' wit' mah brot'er fer a bit, girl. At leas' until Issa decides dat she'll put up wit' us again." He sighed and gave a forlorn look. "I'll be runnin' by myself. Even t'ough I _realleh_ hate doin' dis..."

Claryssa was about to ask what he meant when he disappeared in a puff of smoke...or at least seemed to. Then she saw the vague outline of a wolf, sitting disconsolately where the troll was. She remembered a Draenei shaman doing something similar, and reached out to touch her friend, and giggling slightly when she found that he was quite solid. He made an irritated noise and trotted off as Gat laughed at his expense.

"Well, now that our riding arrangements are taken care of, we should get going," Gelt muttered, his kodo lumbering forward. "I seriously don't want to spend more than a night in this bug-infested jungle. I think I'm going to need a rather extreme flea bath after this."

Gat moved his raptor over by Claryssa and offered a hand down to her. She hesitated, that lingering fear in her stopping herself. She looked back up and Gat, and gathered her courage and took his hand and climbed up into the saddle with him. He kicked his raptor forward into a swift trot to catch up with the others, and the girl noticed that _his_ raptor had a much smoother gait than Issa.

They went on for another hour and a half, Claryssa slowly relaxing, until Gat suddenly stopped and became alert, his eyes searching the jungle around them. There was a sharp yelp from ahead as Gelt's kodo trudged into Jen'Zin, who had also stopped. Gat put a protective arm around Claryssa, who blushed and started to protest until she saw the serious look on his face, and fell silent, also looking around, trying to find what the trouble was. Jen'Zin had changed back, and was also looking around. He shouted out what was definitely a challenge in Zandali, and waited.

The first troll stepped out of the jungle, followed by a half a dozen others. Gat growled and tightened his grip around Claryssa slightly. They circled the four of them, and Thal muttered to herself in Orcish. The first one, his face painted in a hideous pattern, addressed Jen'Zin, talking to him in a snarl with a haughty look on his face. Jen'Zin cut him off with a laugh and threw what Claryssa could only imagine were insults back at him, and Gat nodded in agreement. Her protector threw in his own two copper and spat on the ground near them. Inside, the girl groaned. She did not want to get involved in a fight.

The troll growled low, his bloodred hair quaking with his rage. He started to shout at Gat when he suddenly when up in flames, consumed and turned to ash in a few seconds. Jen'Zen chuckled to himself and brushed off his hands in a proud manner.

"Fuckin' Bloodscalps. Always t'inkin' dey're da most pow'rful," he laughed and glared at the other six, who glared right back at him. Gat threw a question at him, and he waved his brother off. "Nah, day be mos'ly undead, so dey don' count." He returned his attention to the remaining trolls around them. "This'll get messy," he said to no one in particular, but had a savage grin on his face. Gat covered Claryssa's eyes with his free hand, and she started to protest when she heard a horrendous crunching sound, accompanied by an agonized scream. She covered her ears and quivered in fear and revulsion, and Gat's arm tightened around her waist slightly to reassure her.

About five agonizingly long minutes later, they were moving again. Gat had not yet removed either hand from her until they were well out of the area, and even then, she kept her eyes closed for a while after that. The party was fairly quiet, and even though Jen'Zin looked happy, she could see the tense note in the way he moved, and even though Gelt's face was impassive, his jaw was clenched tightly. She tried to forget about that one scream that she had heard, but when they made camp that night, she found that she couldn't forget and couldn't sleep. She finally gave up and sat next to the fire, shivering slightly despite the combined heat of the fire and jungle, trying to wipe her mind in the dancing flames.


	7. Back On the Forward Path

Adventure Loves Company, Too

Chapter 7: Back On the Forward Path

A/N: Skimming back through all this stuff, I find it shocking that you guys liked it. I feel like going back in time and smacking myself across the face for being a derp.

* * *

Claryssa could not remember falling asleep. All she remembered was staring into the flickering fingers of the fire, reaching up towards the few stars that could be seen through the small breaks in the trees. Next thing she knew, she was laying against someone's chest, sitting upright, moving forward. She could feel the wind blowing against her face, and grumbled a bit. She opened her eyes and looked up at Gat with a bleary expression.

"What time is it...?" she asked, rubbing at her eyes. He shrugged.

"So good of you to join us," Gelt said, looking at her intently. "How late were you up last night?"

"I...don't know," she muttered, feeling drained from the previous day, but somehow not remembering why. "I was watching the fire, and then...I'm here. I don't know." She yawned.

Gat said something to Gelt, and the tauren nodded. The two of them conversed for a short time before Claryssa, in her early-morning good short-temperedness, got fed up and demanded they tell her what they were saying. The two of them looked a bit surprised at her sudden surliness, but Gat chuckled. Gelt sighed and shot the troll an ugly look.

"That's really a bad habit, not talking in common. Everyone speaks common." He muttered a bit to himself and finally addressed Claryssa. "We're getting close to Grom'gol base camp. We'll take a zeppelin from there over to Orgrimmar, and then we'll head west through the Barrens and into Mulgore." He sighed. "We're not yet sure what we'll do about you two, though," he said, talking to no one but referring to Claryssa and Thal. The Night Elf snorted.

"You don't need to worry about me. I can take care of myself." She crossed her arms and glared at the ground from her perch on the kodo's rump.

"That's not really what I meant. Having you kill people in Orgrimmar, even is self-defense, will cause a riot. We don't really want too much attention drawn to ourselves IF you haven't noticed," he made a gesture towards Claryssa, "not all of us can defend ourselves."

Gat once again addressed Gelt, and the tauren muttered to himself. "Fine, but if she gets hurt, you do know that Jen'Zin will eat you alive, brother or no brother."

The troll gave him a bright grin in response, which caused the tauren to urge his kodo ahead, muttering to himself. Claryssa played with the hem of her tunic, paying more attention to the smooth gait of the raptor than to her surroundings. The mention of Jen'Zin had brought back the memories of the previous day's encounter, and she found herself feeling sick. She suddenly decided that she was stupid, thinking that those around her were civilized and well-behaved...they were part of the Horde, and even though they were intelligent, they were still barbaric. She found herself falling into a downward spiral, and thinking of some way to get back home, trying her hardest to remember her sketchy, makeshift geography lessons.

She was interrupted by a large hand being placed on her head. She jumped and looked up, and at once felt bad about thinking of leaving. Even though they WERE of the Horde, they were protecting her for some odd reason. She had no idea why, but she felt oddly safe. She had no idea why they were protecting her, but she figured that she'd find out in due time what was going on, and until then, she should probably make things up to Jen'Zin...

"Ah, there it be," Jen'Zin called from his spot at the front of the party. They urged their mounts into a run to catch up and reached the edge of the treeline. Ahead of them, the land sloped down to the sea, and just at the edge of the beach, a large fortress of pikes made from tree trunks marred the picturesque scene. A cool breeze blew off of the sea, washing away the steaming misery of the hot jungle, the salt tang making Claryssa feel homesick for Stormwind. Although, she had to admit, the sea here smelled a lot better than Stormwind. Maybe it was the exclusion of people using a harbor for a trash heap.

She looked over at Jen'Zin, who didn't look back at her. She was sure that he felt bad about scaring her, and she looked back out at the ocean, sparkling a brilliant orange in the sunset. They ran down towards the stronghold, slowing down a bit as they got closer to not alarm the guards, and finally walking calmly into the fortress itself.

If it could be called a fortress.

Most of the buildings were dwarfed by the massive wooden, tar-smeared walls. There were the bare necessities, nothing more. The orcs and few trolls that were working didn't even pause to look at the newcomers and continued with their tasks. They rode up to what she supposed was a rather ramshackle tavern/inn, and dismounted as a surly-looking orc dragged a decidedly drunk goblin out by his ears and threw him out into the street with a roar in orcish cast out after him. The goblin collected himself amidst laughter from the workers around, and made his way to the tower at the southern end of the camp. Eventually.

The orc had receded back into the tavern, only to stick his head back out and stare incredulously at Jen'Zin, who grinned and him.

"What the hell are you doing alive, you scoundrel?" The orc demanded in a gruff voice, but his face breaking out in a grin. The two of them embraced each other in a rough bear hug and laughed.

"He's quite the social butterfly, isn't he?" Thal muttered darkly, glaring slightly at the two of them. Gelt grunted his agreement and began to dismount. The orc stopped when he saw Thal and drew the battered two-handed axe handing on his back and pointed it at her.

"What's that bitch doing here? I thought I made it pretty clear last time you were here that you aren't welcome." The orc's face was solemn, but his gray eyes were filled with rage. "It took us a month to rebuild the stables after that bomb you set off destroyed them. And Fezak lost a leg and is blind now thanks to you."

Jen'Zin put a hand on his friend's wrist and muttered to him in orcish. The orc grumbled and hefted the axe onto his shoulder. "Fine. She stays, but only as a courtesy to you. She causes any trouble, her head is going on a plaque and hanging above the fireplace." He turned and caught sight of Claryssa, who flinched a bit. He eyed her quickly, and turned back to the door. "Come on in and have a drink. And you'll have to tell my why you saw fit to drag a little girl all the way through Stranglethorn." He entered back into the building, and they led their mounts to the stables and tied them there.

"Who's your surly green friend?" Gelt asked Jen'Zin, stretching a bit.

"Heh, he be a good friend o' mine, don' be judgin' him too soon," was the response. "He be a hardass some o' da time, but he be a good person. One o' my bes' friends. He got a loyal streak da size of da Maelstrom." They entered into the inn, and found that it was a temporary renovation. It was actually some barracks, and they could see that the bar was on wheels.

"Sit down, dammit. Took you long enough." The orc was stationed behind the bar, wiping out a series of tankards. They all sat on the empty stools, waiting as he poured drinks and started handing them out. Claryssa politely declined hers.

Thal took a drink out of hers and spluttered. "This is water! Lukewarm water!"

"It's more than you deserve," the orc said, shooting her a dark look. "Anyways, who's your new friend, Jen? Or would she be another toy?"

Jen'Zin snorted into his drink, choking on it. "It be not'in' like dat, and you _know_ it, ya bastard," he muttered, draining his tankard and throwing it at the orc, who caught it easily. "Met 'er in Stormwind, wound up takin' 'er wit' me when I escaped."

"Hostage?"

"Nah. Would'a ditched 'er already if dat was da case."

Their host studied Claryssa for a few seconds with an intent look. The girl blushed a bit with embarrassment, not sure what he was looking for. "What's your name, girl?" he asked.

"Um...Claryssa," she replied, eying him a little warily.

He laughed. "Don't be afraid. Any friend of Jen'Zin's a friend of mine. Zalgash," he said, offering a hand, which she took a bit timidly. He laughed and shook her hand and turned to Gelt. "And you?"

"An anal-retentive druid," Jen'Zin remarked with a sarcastic grin. The tauren snorted.

"Gelt," he replied, ignoring the troll's comment. "I'm pretty much just tagging along until I get to a more friendly climate."

Zalgash nodded and folded his arms on the bar. "You came at just the right time, my friend," he said, addressing Jen'Zin. "There's a zeppelin inbound to take me back to Orgrimmar, should be here tomorrow morning. If that's where you're headed, that is."

"Yeah, dat be so. Need ta get ovah to Thundah Bluff sometime soon, got some beef wit' one o' Cairne's guards. Owes me some money dat I'll need to get to where I be goin'."

Zalgash raised an eyebrow. "Wouldn't it be faster to just go south to Booty Bay and take the ship to Ratchet? You could skip Durotar completely, and it's basically a straightaway to Mulgore."

Gelt made a strangled noise at that. "I'll die if I stay more than another day in this bug-infested hellhole. I'll take the spring blackflies over this infestation of everything."

Zalgash grunted and sat on a stool behind the counter. "I can understand that grievance. To be honest, I can't stand it here, either. I'm almost grateful to my little sister for being so stupid and needing me to save her ass from another stupid relationship every few months."

"She still got bad taste in men?" Jen'Zin inquired.

"Even worse now. You remember Grol?"

"...Ya be jokin'."

"I wish I was."

The two of them grumbled a few curses in orcish.

"Anyways," Zalgash continued, "I've got to go back and un-pickle her from the pickle she's in, and I don't plan on coming back here any time soon. I'm sick of getting rid of my most recent case of pneumonia only to catch a different form of it. I swear, if I have to drink down another one of that witch doctor's concoctions, my tongue might just run away."

Jen'Zin chuckled at him, and the orc sat back.

"I'll have to find some beds for you guys to sleep in. Worst-case scenario, we'll have to break out the hammocks, and those can get unpleasant. Not because of the rope, but because several of the poles have termites."

Gelt shuddered a bit and Thal made a face. Gat asked him a question, which Zalgash waved off with a reply in orcish. The troll made a face and looked down at the dirt floor skeptically.

Night fell quickly as the group remained in the barracks. The sun was swallowed by the ocean with one last brilliant flash of green, and the orange clouds were slowly enveloped by the indigo curtain arching across the sky. The bar had been moved to the back of the room, the kegs stoppered up to prevent insects finding their way in, and the residents of that particular building filed in to their beds. Claryssa had taken a seat outside, watching the sky turn dark, and the stars slowly come out. She found herself staring into deep space, at the wide band of silver streaked across the sky, and almost didn't notice Jen'Zin take a seat next to her. She started a bit and looked at him. He was looking up at the sky, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"I...uh..." Claryssa struggled a bit, trying to find something to say. "I've never seen a sky like this before. In Stormwind, the lamps are always on at night, and the buildings are so close together that I can only see a little bit of the sky from my room."

The troll grunted slightly, still staring up at the sky. "It be beautiful, but dere be a more beaut'ful sky up dere."

"Outland?" Claryssa asked. She'd heard tales from the more gossipy women about how they'd overheard some adventurers talking about Outland and its weird creatures and whatnot, but never really believed any of what they said. Sure, she knew that there was an Outland. The Draenei were proof of that. She'd heard people say that the orcs were proof of it, as well, but she rarely believed the stories of what it looked like.

Jen'Zin nodded. "Yeah. Da dust 'nd stuff from when it was torn 'part is still in da atmosphere, makin' da sky look amazin'." He sighed. "Sorreh 'bout scarin' you, before. I-"

"It's okay," Claryssa said, cutting him off. "You don't need to apologize. You saved me, and I'm grateful for it...just please don't do it again." She smiled at him, and he pulled her into a rough, crushing hug, which she barely managed to free herself of. He laughed and sighed, leaning back against the building.

"Ya know," he said, grinning a bit, "no mattah how dis whole journey ends up, I would nevah have wanted ta not meetcha. Hell, if I didn', I'd probl'y have made good time down here, missed Gelt complet'ly, and not have met any of ya, and would be on mah way ta who knows where." He looked over at Claryssa. "Dis is a lot more fun, ya know?"

"I agree," she said, smiling and looking back up at the sky. "If I didn't meet you, I'd be at home, learning how to cook, having my mother badger me about when I'm getting married."

"Enough gushy reminiscing, you two," Zalgash said from the door. He'd stepped out and was watching the two of them. "You both sound like you're an old married couple, it's freaking me out."

Jen'Zin and Claryssa scooted away from one another and looked off in separate directions. The orc laughed. "Come on, get inside. It'll start getting cold soon, and a zeppelin two thousand feet above the ocean isn't really a good place to be sick. Get to bed, we got barely enough to accommodate you guys." He turned back inside and the two of them laughed a bit nervously, went inside and fell asleep


	8. History Lesson

Adventure Loves Company, Too

Chapter 8: History Lesson

* * *

The next day rose up over the horizon slowly, and it would have been one of those perfect mornings to just lay back in bed and wake up slowly with the sun, had it not been for the reverie that blasted out over Grom'gol every morning. Claryssa grumbled and tried in vain to stifle the sounds by burying her head under the pillow, but the smell of the pillow itself resisted her efforts and drove her out of bed with everyone else. She plopped herself down on the bench outside, a blanket around her shoulders to ward off the early morning chill, and running a comb absently through her hair. It was interesting how the addition of a body of water could cause such drastic changes in climate. Not even fifty yards back into the tree line, she knew it was an oven.

She watched the populace slowly return to the dull rhythm of the day, and wondered when the zeppelin to take them to Orgrimmar was going to arrive. She then found herself wondering what Orgrimmar itself was like. Unbidden images came to her mind and she quickly shook them out of her head. She sighed mournfully and looked up at the zeppelin tower with a dull sense of dread. She continued combing her hair for lack of anything better to do, ripping out overly stubborn snarls almost as often as she combed them out.

Zalgash came out of the barracks, kicking out the two trolls who were assigned to clean the building as a punishment for slacking off. He sighed and looked over at Claryssa.

"The zeppelin won't be here for another hour or two. And even then, it'll take a while before I'll trust that damned contraption enough to get on it." He sat down and stretched. "Don't worry, though, there are rarely any accidents. And even if there is one, it's pretty much just a ship in the air, so we'll still get where we need to go," he explained at her horrified look. He laughed.

Claryssa grumbled in reply, staring out over the compound. Several adventurers had come into the gate, and were getting the supplies they needed before continuing on to wherever they were going. She sighed and listened to the crash of the waves just outside the wall. "What's Orgrimmar like?" she asked after a few minutes of silence. "I mean...I've heard people say what it's like, but I don't really believe them."

Zalgash leaned forward and rested his chin on his palm. "It's hot. And dusty. And busy. I guess it's just a city. There's not much to say about it. It's a little bit confusing, though. It's not uncommon for a newcomer of a different race to get lost." He thought about it for a while, and Claryssa sat back, watching him with an expression that clearly conveyed her lack of satisfaction with his answer. He sighed. "It's hard to describe for some reason. The walls are high, the sun is hot, the vendors are loud. Whether or not the people are nice depends entirely on who you meet, which is the same for every city the world over." He patted her shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry, if worse comes to worse, I won't let anyone touch you, alright? Besides, the Warchief will have a fit if someone like you is killed right under his nose."

"But...I don't even _know_ you...we only just met last night. Why would you protect someone you don't even know?"

"You're Jen'Zin's friend. That's more than enough for me to lay down my own life." He shrugged.

"Yeah, well..." Claryssa was still a little bit taken aback at his automatic offer for protection. She thought about that a while, and decided for a new topic. "What did you mean, Thrall would throw a fit if I died?"

"Ah, well...he doesn't like having innocent blood shed. Actually, he doesn't really like any bloodshed, but innocents are a big one for him. Maybe we could take a detour to Grommash Hold. The Warchief is one of those people who you have to meet to understand." He grinned mischievously. "It would drive Jen'Zin up a wall, on top of that."

"Why?"

Zalgash scoffed. "He's such a fanboy. He gets all tongue-tied and whatnot, it's almost embarrassing to watch. The only thing that's stopping him from declaring his undying love for the Warchief is the fact that he would never _ever_ be able to live it down."

"Why's it called Orgrimmar? I keep hearing adventurers give different reasons why it's called that, and each is more outrageous than the last."

"Oh, that Stormwind. Spreading nasty rumors about us, are they?" He chuckled a bit. He went into a short history of the Horde, covering the high points, specifically Orgrim Doomhammer and the warlock-controlled, demon-corrupted Horde and the redemption by Grom Hellscream. Claryssa listened, fascinated by the insane depth of the past of the orcs to the point that she didn't even notice the zeppelin pull in above them, or the small group of trolls that had gathered around to listen, as well.

"He took down a pit lord in one hit?" Claryssa asked incredulously when he mentioned Grom's triumph over Mannoroth. "That's impossible, isn't it?"

"Obv'ously not, girl," one of the trolls said from behind, preparing to get back to work now that story time was over. "Ask an'one who's been ta Orgrimmar, ya can see 'is armor and skull tied up ta a tree outside da Hold." The others agreed and they set off back to their stations, having used up their slacking time for the day.

"Really?" Claryssa thought about this, trying to wrap her head around the size differences. Zalgash was a good foot and a half taller than herself...and he had said that the pit lord was...how big? She could almost feel her brain bubbling inside her head trying to think of the sizes involved in the battle, and the orc laughed and shook her shoulder slightly.

"Don't think too hard on it, you might hurt yourself. I'm sure that you'll get the opportunity to see it for yourself when we get to Durotar. Come on, let's get ready. The zeppelin will be leaving in a bit." He got up and started off towards the stables, and Claryssa, for lack of anything better to do followed.

She wished that she didn't.

As soon as she entered the stables, she was met by an enormous, ferocious-looking black wolf. She froze and stared at it for a second too long before trying to escape and the beast leapt at her with a snarl.

"Grel! Off! You stupid wolf! OFF!" Zalgash heaved at the great beast's spiked iron collar to no avail as it assaulted Claryssa, savagely licking her face off in a fit of canine glee. He shouted at it alternatively in orcish, common, and goblin, finally resorting to the more colorful parts of Thalassian before the beast relinquished its grip on Claryssa only to turn its delight on its master.

Jen'Zin, drawn by Claryssa's squeals of fright and laughter, burst through the door, only to narrowly avoid being tackled by the great black furball and licked to death. He and his friend managed to subdue the wolf, even though they were both laughing.

"I see dat yo' mount still gots discipline issues," Jen'Zin noticed, shoving the wolf off of his shoulders.

"Like you have any room to talk. Although, I do admit that I would like him to have at least a little bit of ferocity in him. Even though it's always amusing to watch Alliance scream right before he mauls them with his tongue." He patted Grel and gave him a leg of some animal Claryssa had no desire to know.

Jen'Zin laughed and picked up a nearby crate. "Ah, well, best be startin' ta pack up da zepp'lin."

"What about Issa?" Claryssa asked.

The troll stopped and his head drooped. "'M realleh not lookin' forward ta huntin' 'er down and gettin' 'er on da ship. We'll prob'ly hafta blindfold 'er."

"You mean _you'll_ have to blindfold her," Zalgash clarified. "I'm not going anywhere near your raptor when she's enraged."

Jen'Zin muttered to himself and continued out the door.

The rest of the day passed somewhat uneventfully. The zeppelin was loaded up with supplies, and the mounts were herded onto the ship. The sun was setting as Jen'Zin finally pulled a hooded Issa into the cargo hold, several deep gashes and a lot of bloodstains were testament to the raptor's blatant refusal of authority. He was sitting rather morosely in a corner, healing up his own wounds as the final check over the zeppelin was done and they eased out and away from Grom'gol into the gathering night.


	9. And Now For Something Totally Different

Adventure Loves Company, Too

Chapter 9: And Now For Something Totally Different

* * *

Bhazrael hated Orgrimmar.

Actually, it went beyond hate. He _loathed_ the blasted city.

He hated the dry, dusty climate. He hated the smell. He hated the withering heat of the sun. He hated the sunburn. He hated the architecture. He hated the shouting of street vendors, and hated the lack of any vegetation. He missed Silvermoon with a passion, from its graceful spirals and white stone to the graceful billowing of silk drapes in the breeze and the peaceful quiet, and the pleasant smell that was both calming and invigorating that could only be produced with magic.

But what he really hated about Orgrimmar was that Orgrimmar hated him right back.

The orcs had only recently broken free of the Legion's grip, so a warlock was hardly welcome inside the walls. Even though his superior demonology knowledge proved him far more useful than the few orc warlocks that still existed in making fire- and spellstones, he was still regarded with a passive malevolence as he walked the streets of city. He was pretty sure the only thing from having an axe embedded in his back was Thrall's orders.

He turned a corner and found himself under the broad expanses of canvas that cover the Drag, and sighed with some relief. Without the sun bearing down on him, it was a lot cooler, and there was a slight breeze blowing, siphoned by the modified canyon. He sat on a bench, his hand going to his long blond hair. It was absolutely ruined. It was frizzy from the heat, choked with dust, and quickly becoming sun bleached. He took great pride in his hair, because unlike many other blood elves, no drop of magic had EVER touched his head. Thus, it was somewhat of a nightmare for him to be staring in disgust at a fistful of split ends.

Bhazrael sighed again, resting his head against the building behind him, ignoring the potential filth on the stone under the reasoning that his hair was doomed anyways. He felt suddenly lonely and cursed Orgrimmar's distrust towards the Legion, and demanding that he not summon any of his minions. He really hated that order. Partly because he hating summoning, it was such a long and boring process.

And also because he really did miss Zarghoon.

Yes, he knew that the demons were just to be used as slaves to his will, but there was something endearing about the Felguards in general. Firstly, because they were superior fighters to just about any warrior he'd met, and secondly because he had yet to meet one that was insubordinate. Felguards were loyal companions who carried out their master's wishes without question. That is, only if the master can keep constant control over them. He'd met a warlock who had been killed by his own Felguard when he found out the hard way that he was definitely _not_ prepared for the sheer willpower involved in controlling the demon.

The warlock sighed and got up again, and shuffled down toward the Cleft of Shadows. That was the real reason he was in this horrible city. He had taken it upon himself to investigate Ragefire Chasm. Other warlocks always intrigued him, and he couldn't help but try to test his fellows' powers. However, more often than not, Zarghoon sliced through the others' minions easily, only to have the other warlocks try to rush a Hellfire spell just so it could blow up in their faces.

He shoved his hands in his pockets angrily, only to cut his left hand on a soul shard that had somehow managed to not get put in the correct bag. He pulled out the offending gem and glared at it, his green eyes narrowed in hate. He threw the thing on the ground and proceeded to kick it along the ground in the same manner one might kick a rock down the street as he made his way towards the faint purple glow of the Cleft.

As he made his way down the ramp and past a few tents, he noticed a large cavern, its entrance gaping like some horrid mouth of rock, its throat arching back and down into darkness. He could almost taste the energy coming from the cave, even as pathetic as it was. He sighed irritably. His trip to Orgrimmar had been nothing more than a wild goose chase. He'd heard people talk of demons and warlocks living in the Chasm, but from what Bhaz could feel, they were all of pathetic power that even his grandmother could kill. Probably with her cooking.

He was about to turn irritably on his heel when he heard a voice.

"You there...warlock!"

The elf turned to face the person who called with an indignant look. An orc was poking his head out of a tent stationed near the entrance of the Chasm, and beckoned to Bhazrael. Overcome by curiosity, the elf strode over to the orc.

"What do you want?"

"I have a request. Come in, if you like," the orc offered, opening the flap to the tent. It was dark inside the tent, but a blast of mushroom spores hit Bhaz in the face, causing him to choke slightly.

"I'll stay out here, thanks." The orc did not catch on to the disgusted note in his voice.

"Suit yourself. Anyways, I need your help. I can't trust anyone other than an adventurer with this, and I won't trust any of the greenhorns who come through here with this...I need deliverance, and by your robes, I can tell that you aren't just some two-bit warlock."

Irritation clearly showed on the warlock's face. What did this _mushroom merchant_ knew of adventuring and its dangers? And how could someone NOT recognize him as a warlock of power? Between the deceptively foul-looking black robes and the spike-encrusted shoulders, he looked like a very imposing individual. Sometimes a little too imposing, as he had accidentally made a couple of small orcish children cry just by walking by. He crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently.

"And what would be so urgent that you can't send a pack of urchins in after it?"

"A rare mushroom."

"Of _course_," the elf snarled.

"Don't get me wrong on this, friend. This mushroom is more powerful than any other I've come across. It's rumored to be from deep within the headquarters of the Burning Legion."

Bhazrael was assaulted with the urge to strangle the man with his own ignorance at that statement, but managed to mace himself. "Oh? And what might this mushroom be?" he demanded through grit teeth. Way to get yourself wrapped up in another damned goose chase. All hail Bhazrael, the easily-manipulated sin'dorei! "Never mind that if such a one existed, I'm sure that _someone_ would have found it already."

"It's supposedly a secret of the Legion, at least, that's what I'd heard. Just...check out Ragefire Chasm for me? I must know if it's real. If it is, could you bring back a sample?" The orc gave a short description of the mushroom and waiting for the elf's reply.

Bhaz, his rage not quite overcoming the irritating good Samaritan inside him, grudgingly agreed and trudged into the gaping maw of the Chasm. He walked for a about twenty minutes, his rage building with every passing step, and his frustration reaching a fever pitch inside the dark cavern. Slowly, though, a sooty red glow started to paint the cavern walls, and soon he was standing inside a giant cavern, lit from underneath by a glowing river of lava. He figured that he was well enough out of site of any prying eyes and his hands started to glow with an evil purple light.

The spell worked slowly, as it always did, but soon enough, a massive figure materialized beside the warlock. The Felguard knelt before Bhaz and then stood up, hefting his giant axe onto his shoulder. The warlock grinned at his companion.

"Your hair looks horrible, master. What did you do, run out of that fancy soap again?" Zarghoon asked in a deep voice, chuckling slightly at the elf's expense. Bhaz flipped his hair with an arrogant scoff.

"No, it's just the climate. Hot, dry air does not for good hair make." He then dropped to a more serious tone. "Listen, Zar, I've been sent into this hellhole on what I KNOW is nothing more than a fool's errand. This orc sent me down here to look for some mushroom that seems to exist in his imagination. I'm sure that you'd be the best person I can ask about this, seeing as how this hypothetical detritivore is supposed to originate from the Burning Legion's base of operations. Now, tell me whether or not I can hang this orc with his own stupidity."

The Felguard gave a skeptical look. "Sure, there's mushrooms, but none that would ever be of any use to anyone. What's this specific one?" He listened to the description the orc had given and thought about it for a few minutes. "Nope, nothing like that exists. Never heard of it, never seen it, and I sincerely doubt that it exists at all." He looked around. "It's kinda chilly in here."

Bhaz resisted the urge to punch his minion, seeing as how he was being roasted inside of his robes. Instead, he noticed that the demon was cradling something gently in one giant, gauntleted arm. The warlock raised an eyebrow and commented on this. The Felguard grinned and set down his axe and showed off the small creature in his arms.

It was a kitten.

Bhazrael stared at it for a few seconds as the little calico kitten mewled. He inhaled and slowly covered his face with both hands. "What am I going to do with you, Zarghoon?"

All he got in reply was a chuckle and another mewl.


	10. Welcome to Orgrimmar

Adventure Loves Company, Too

Chapter 10: Welcome to Orgrimmar

* * *

The sun had just risen over the high stone walls of Orgrimmar, and Bhazrael, for lack of anything better to do, left the inn he was staying at and went out for a walk. Winter was just over, and the chill was very slow to leave the desert. The icy air of the night was still clinging desperately to the ground, trying in vain to not be burnt away by the sweltering heat of the sun. Orgrimmar was thus very much like its people: filled with extremes, always opposite. Either the people were friendly or cruel, joking or hurtful, kind or ruthless. Seemingly never in between.

The warlock strode lazily down the nearly empty street, thankful that his robes were as thick as they were. He knew that he'd be regretting it soon enough, though. His dark hood was pulled up over the hair that he had labored over the previous night, trying to get it into some kind of order. He hated his hood. It was black and ugly, and somehow made him look ever more evil, if that was possible. He fiddled with one of the many dark chains that ran down his robe, each etched discretely with an empowering rune. The chains were the only reason why he still wore these robes, despite the many other, better-looking ones available to him. Metal was much easier to enchant than cloth, and finding cloth armor with metal on it was harder than finding a dwarf without a beard. And he was also NOT a tailor.

He sighed and whistled to himself, walking towards the main gate of Orgrimmar. He decided that he needed some fresh air, away from the dust that the big city always kicked up during the day. Not that it was much better out in the deserts of Durotar, but it was definitely quieter out there. And he could freely summon.

As he walked past the uncaring guards, he reflected on his reasoning for being here. He could feel something was about to happen...something he needed to be here for, something that would change his life. How it would change his life, he had no idea. He just hoped that it wasn't anything involving women. He didn't need anything else with the massive potential to go wrong in his life. Besides, he didn't get along with them. He would always find faults with them, little pet peeves that drove him mad. He wouldn't voice them, of course. No need to start a cat figh-er...No need to start an argument with someone over nothing.

Even though he was right. _Always_.

He stepped out into the clearer desert air and inhaled. The cool, dry air felt fantastic in his chest, and he sighed happily and continued walking. He found himself walking towards one of the zeppelin towers for no apparent reason, and decided to go ahead and let his feet take him where they will. As he got closer, he noticed a zeppelin pulling closer, and he raised an eyebrow. Curiosity once again overcame him.

He decided he'd have to have a good long talk with his curiosity after this was over. It seemed to have a habit of getting him involved with things that were often troublesome and irritating.

He watched the zeppelin pull in from a distance, and waited to see who came out of the tower. He then saw a dark shape leap out of the back of the zeppelin, and faintly heard a loud screech, followed by faint shouting in Zandali. Bhazrael made a face.

So. Trolls.

He sighed and relaxed, his hips cocking to one side as he shifted his weight onto one leg. He rested his forearm against his upturned hip bone and waited, his curiosity still burning inside him. He pursed his lips slightly in irritation as a group slowly emerged from the entrance to the tower and made its way over.

His eyes narrowed slightly as the group became more visible. Two trolls, a tauren, an orc...and what looked like a night elf. He snorted and tossed his head, preparing to make his way back inside the city. He did _not_ like night elves. Night elves also didn't like him, but if you've got no hope of redemption, may as well hate their guts out right back, right? He then noticed a smaller figure amongst the group.

"_A human?_" he asked aloud. He started chewing on the tip of his thumb, glove and all. That made no sense, a human, traveling with Horde? He could understand the tauren tolerating her presence; they were, after all, the most tolerant beings on the face of the planet. Orcs, he could usually make an exception for, the Warchief being a prime example. For her to be traveling with trolls, though...and apparently in good spirits, was something unheard of. He paced back and forth a bit, face drawn, still gnawing on his glove, lost in thought. He wasn't what he'd consider prejudiced or racist. He had, after all, met some fairly powerful human warlocks. But other races remain other races, and he knew that trolls were among the most xenophobic and superstitious out there, and he had yet to meet an exception.

"You okay dere, mon?"

Bhaz jumped and looked up at the troll. He'd been so lost in thought that he didn't even notice the group pull up to him and look at him curiously. He glared at the silver-haired troll that addressed him.

"Oh, yes, I'm just _peachy_," he snapped, using the orcish that he'd been addressed with. "Why is there a human traveling with you?" His voice was perhaps a little more indignant than he felt, mostly because he despised the orcish language. It sounded ugly, it looked ugly. Hell, it even _tasted_ ugly.

"I don't see how that's any of your business, elf," the orc of the group stated. He said it in a deep, slow voice that would have made the warlock melt, had it not been for the venom it was laced with. Bhazrael's eyes hardened.

"Call it curiosity, if you will," he stated, his voice becoming cold. "I don't much care about those of other races, or who they company with. Seeing a troll traveling with one of another race, especially Alliance, is quite out of the ordinary, considering their track record."

"I fail ta see how our companions be any of yo' business," the other troll said, his voice flat. "Unless ya plan ta make somet'in' of it, quit hamperin' us and get back ta kissin' up ta yer demons."

Bhazrael heard something snap inside his skull. He _knew_ the troll was deliberately trying to start a fight, but he couldn't help but fall for the bait. "Watch your mouth, vermin," he said, his voice warped slightly with magic released by his rage. "I could swat you down without so much as a thought."

The troll then grinned and said no more, his conquest complete. Which only made the warlock even angrier. Starting a fight and then abandoning it when the opponent falls for the bait? Leaving your opponent stewing in his unreleased rage with definitely a much better victory than leaving him beaten to a pulp, he had to give him that. Rage caused ulcers. Beatings didn't.

"Now then, you two. Don't start up anything unnecessary. We should get inside the walls before the sun gets up any more. It'll be hotter out here than in Orgrimmar, as hard as that is to comprehend." The tauren straightened up in his saddle a bit, stretching. "I'd like to have at least another day's rest before I commit my future parental prospects to death by saddle."

The first troll grunted and started ahead. The human girl looked down at Bhazrael from her perch on the second troll's raptor with such an outstandingly innocent look that all the elf could do was stare at her with a dumbfounded expression. He watched them continue, his face locked in that same position for a while after the group had retreated into the capital. He then shakily ran a hand through his hair.

"Girls like her _actually exist_?"

* * *

Claryssa didn't know what to make of Orgrimmar. It was still early in the morning, and there were very few people out in the streets. Mostly vendors, preparing for the day's sales. She did attract a little bit of attention, but no one did more than mutter to his neighbor as the troupe passed through the streets. She did wonder, however, how the orcs had managed to find bones as large as the ones that they used in their architecture. It was a little disquieting.

"What was up with that man back there?" Claryssa asked as they made their way through the city, referring to the warlock they had passed outside the gates.

"Ah, jus' some warlock stickin' 'is nose where it don' belong," Jen'Zin said, jogging alongside the group. Issa had bailed out of the zeppelin as soon as they had docked, and was probably halfway to Razor Hill, so the troll hadn't bothered going after his mount. "Don' pay 'im no mind, blood elves always be more cur'ous dan dey should be."

"He seemed really angry, though."

"Yeh, ya can t'ank Gat fer dat," he said, shooting his brother a grin. "'E always be makin' da casters mad, 'specially blood elves. Doesn' help dat dey get mad eas'ly." He chuckled to himself and continued jogging.

"Why, though?" She found her companion's attitude a bit odd, considering he was always quiet. She felt the troll shrug.

"He was wondering why you were traveling with us," Zalgash said, his jaw setting. "He was rather rude about it, too."

"I see..." Claryssa leaned back against Gat, thinking. The warlock actually didn't seem that bad. He had reminded her of a friend of hers back in Stormwind, also a warlock. Her friend was stubborn and arrogant, but had a definite soft spot. On a habitual impulse, she had looked at the warlock with the same feigned look of absolute innocence that always threw her friend off balance, and the blood elf had reacted exactly the same. It took all of her willpower to not smile, let alone burst out laughing.

They continued down the streets, having taken so many turns and twists that Claryssa became wholly disorganized. Soon, however, they entered into a wide valley. The girl's eyes widened as she laid eyes on Grommash Hold, a giant fortress of rock, seemingly carved out of the wall of the canyon itself. The rest of the group was watching her, grins on their faces. She decided to ignore them.

"Oh, yeah, you wanted to see Mannoroth's armor, didn't you?" Zalgash said, remembering. He pointed off to the side of the canyon. "Over there."

Claryssa followed her finger to the biggest stump of a tree she'd ever seen. It was gnarled and twisted, its branches cut off, leaving only the bulbous trunk. Hanging on the tree was an enormous breastplate, at least a half a foot thick, with evil-looking filigree, wrapped to the tree with chains the size of her leg. There was a jagged slash through the left side of it, which sent a slight chill up the girl's spine. Atop the tree was a horrible skull, which made the image complete. Giant horns arced from the cheekbones, with horrible teeth. She shuddered a bit, not wanting to know what something with such a terrifying skull would look like fully fleshed.

"I would'a loved ta see dat fight," Jen'Zin muttered, looking at the damaged breastplate with awe. "One hit..._damn_, I wish I coul' one-shot a pit lord." He sighed and turned back to the Hold. "Come on, den. May as well int'roduce Clar to da Warchief. B'fore some ov'rzealous scumbag decides ta take matters inta 'is own hands."

"The Warchief?" Claryssa said, a little afraid. Gat patted her reassuringly on the head and dismounted, taking her with him. He set her on the ground and grinned as they walked up to the Hold.


	11. Free Rides With Bracelets

Adventure Loves Company, Too

Chapter 11: Free Rides With Bracelets

A/N: Also called: Why Did I Write This Chapter And Why Was I Such A Derp?

* * *

Claryssa stared at the foreboding entrance to Grommash Hold, her eye twitching and frame rigid. Jen'Zin had assured her that the throne room was not a torture chamber, but the fear that was ingrained in her over 19 years in Stormwind had a habit of making her a little irrational at times.

The two trolls were sniggering to themselves. It was a little irritating. They were ten years older than herself, and sometimes wished they'd act their age, what with being middle-aged in troll terms. But then again, that might make for a far less amusing journey.

Gelt watched, mildly amused as Claryssa shifted from fear to irritation, then to a rather pensive look. He chuckled to himself and started up the short hill. Jen'Zin and his brother did a quick rock-paper-scissors round, which the former won. The troll hefted Claryssa onto his shoulder with minimal effort and strode into the Hold, accompanied by the girl's indignant shrieks.

She quieted almost as soon as they entered. She stared at the work that went into the stones that make the Hold, and rather tactfully ignored the orcs and few trolls who were looking at her with mildly amused expressions. They passed into a hallway, and she heard a voice she did not recognize ahead of the group address them in orcish. She heard the party exchange what she assumed were formalities, and then Jen'Zin said something that caused a fair amount of laughter. She took the opportunity to convey her displeasure by tugging on one of his ears, to which he responded by shrugging the shoulder she was slung over. She had to resort to elbowing him in the back of the head before he relented and let her down, and she almost immediately wished he hadn't.

In front of them was the tallest troll she was sure she'd ever see. At least a good foot and a half taller than her friend and looking at her with the same expression all Horde seemed to adopt in her presence: mild amusement. She may have had a minor aneurysm at that moment, because her first instinct-and the instinct she went with-was to adopt the cutest, most winning little girl smile she could muster. The troll burst into hearty laughter.

"Where'd ya go an' kidnap dis one, an' how much ya wan' fer her?"

"She not be for sale, Vol'jin, not even fer ya," Jen'Zin replied with a chuckle. "Dis be da leader o' da Darkspear trolls, Vol'jin," he said to Claryssa in ways of introduction. "Dis be da little girl who somehow managed ta twist me inta takin' her wit' me."

"Ya sure she not be for sale? Dis gloomy ol' fortress could use a ray o' sunshine."

"She be da joy of me twilight years, mon," Jen'Zin replied, a mock-mournful look on his face.

"Twilight my ass," Vol'jin retorted. "Get anoddah ten years undah yo belt and DEN we'll talk 'bout twilight."

"Anyways, is the Warchief available?" Gelt interrupted.

"No, he ain't. Been swamped wit' paperwork an' stuff. Tryin' ta clear up da recent fiasco in Nort'rend." Vol'jin made a face. "Garrosh nearly ruined our relations wit' da Taunka by tryin' ta force dem inta his war preparations. Dey want da Lich King gone as much as we do, but dey got a diff'rent way o' doin' t'ings. Needless ta say, dey were offended, and Thrall be tryin' ta make amends."

"I can understand that," Gelt nodded. "Anyways, anything we gotta do to get Claryssa and this elf 'unmolestable' status?" He then made a face at allowing the trolls' lazy speech to affect his own.

"Ah, yeh, come get'cha bracelet." He motioned them to follow and turned.

"Bracelet?" Claryssa asked, a little taken aback.

"Yeh, one o' da Warchief's more eccentric and sarcastic ideas. I keep tellin' him to stop jokin' to his staff, 'cause reg'lar orcs don' understan' sarcasm. No offense, o' course," he said, looking back at Zalgash.

"None taken. I know exactly what you mean. I usually need to purge my wit on the trolls lest I wind up telling the peons to build a fifty-foot statue of my-"

"_Anyways_," Gelt intersected, giving a stern look to the three trolls, who had all burst into laughter, "don't the bracelets make it easy for infiltrators? Just copy the bracelet and they're free to roam Orgrimmar."

"Dat's impossible. Firs', de need ta have a member o' da Horde vouch for 'em. Second, dey need escort wherevah dey go. Third, dere be eight diff'rent designs and twenty diff'rent colors, each changing ev'ry month, et cet'ra, et cet'ra." He sighed mournfully. "It really be a pain in da ass and more work fer me." He handed a parchment to Jen'Zin. "Sign on da line, and try not ta make any confessions of love dis time. Da Warchief be pretty high-strung right now, and da catharsis might be too much fer him ta handle. Last time, it took us an hour ta stop 'im from laughin'." He took the parchment and handed two bracelets in exchange.

"Oh, so he got my report on da Alliance movements, den?"

"Yeh, it was rather amusin'...oh, pardon, dis might take a while..." The troll motioned rather morosely to an elf that had just entered. He stroke over and began talking to the troll leader in rapid Thalassian. Zalgash raised an eyebrow in interest. His voice was rather familiar to Claryssa, and she began trying to remember where she'd seen him. She didn't have a very good memory when it came to chance encounters.

Zalgash's interest turned into mute glee as the elf went from a diplomatic tone of voice to demanding, and finally to pleading. Claryssa tugged on the orc's shirt.

"He's a warlock," he explained in a low whisper. "He's trying to get permission to summon his minion inside Orgrimmar."

The warlock sighed in defeat and turned, catching sight of Claryssa. He blinked.

"Ah, so you're actually here for a purpose other than food, huh?"

Claryssa blinked, and put on a stupid-cute face and pointed to herself with both hands. "I'm a tourist!" she said cheerfully.

Jen'Zin laughed and patted her head. "I knew I made da right decision in takin' ya wit' me. Unfort'nately, ya just demoted yerself from heroine ta comedy relief."

"Oh!" Claryssa cried, pointing at the elf, finally placing him. "You're that warlock from before! The one Gat made fun of!"

The elf stared at her for a moment before turning on his heel and striding away, one long eyebrow twitching in chagrin.

"You're in an odd mood," Zalgash noted, giving her a quizzical look.

"It's quickly fading. It is advisable to find me proper food before I eat your head."

"You're a terrible influence on her, Jen'Zin."

"I know. I say we let 'er starve, I wanna see a full-grown orc get mauled by a little girl."

"I agree," Thal said, and shot the troll a high-five.

"You have no idea how happy I am to not be a main character in this story."


	12. On Priests, Fishing, and Axes

Adventure Loves Company, Too

Chapter 12: On Priests, Fishing, and Axes

A/N: Renaming this chapter. Since I'm not bawling about losing the previous iteration, I suppose it can get a better chapter name now.

* * *

On their way back out, Jen'Zin had a discussion with one of the guards. On the flight over from Grom'gol, they had a discussion about Claryssa's place in the party. The discussion went something like this:

"She's a nuisance. She can't do anything, let alone defend herself," Thal said pointedly to Gelt, speaking loud enough to reach everyone's ears. The girl jumped a bit and instantly felt guilty, knowing that the Night Elf was speaking the truth.

"Then what do you suggest? You'll teach her the great art of being a rogue? Jen'Zin take her down the road of the spirits? I show her the glory of the earth? You see faults, but offer no solutions to them. Keep your mouth shut, trash," The tauren retorted. He had been airsick ever since they had taken off, and it was wearing considerably at his mood.

"She be somewhat right, Gelt," Jen'Zin said, scratching at his chin, lounging near the steps down into the cabins. Claryssa's stomach dropped, taken aback by what her friend said. "But ya be right, as well, man. Dere be not'in' dat we can do ta help 'er. An' I sincerely doubt dat she be wantin' ta hurt anyt'in'."

"Then she will be nothing but a hindrance. If I am forced to be a part of this group, I refuse to have a little hanger-on to baby the whole way there. She's a selfish little girl who takes things for granted. Even you, troll."

Jen'Zin grunted at this. Gat interjected something, and the Night Elf laughed.

"Standing up for her? She's cute, don't get me wrong. But if we are headed the way we're headed, that may become more a curse than a blessing. Not everyone will react the way you faggots have. Not everyone will instantly feel the need to coddle her, and make her feel okay. You do realize that, do you not? And what then? What, when your attentions have drifted, and she gets abducted and abused and ultimately killed? What then? It will be your fault." Thal sat back, her peace said. The others looked uneasily at each other, and Claryssa slid down onto the deck, stunned by the brutal truth.

"Well, what, then? What do you suggest? Once again, faults but no solutions. She isn't the fighting type. She has a kind heart under all of the little girl attitudes. I think that is more or less what made you attracted to her in the first place, Jen'Zin. You do have a good judge of character." Zalgash had overheard the conversation from below the deck and had surfaced to try to mediate. The deck of an airship was not a good place for a quarrel.

"I'm not the brains of this operation," Thal replied loftily. "I just call things as I see them. I'm not perfect. I admit that. But I can take care of myself when it comes down to it. That girl has only survived thus far because of luck and you guys taking care of her."

"Zalgash be right' t'ough. She not be da fightin' type. She don' like hurtin' t'ings, and realleh, ya can' take care o' yerself wit'out hurtin' someone else in da process," Jen'Zin sighed and rubbed his jaw. "Suggestions as ta what she coul' be?"

"There's no way, _no way_ I would _ever_ teach someone to be a druid. Especially a human," Gelt said firmly. "First off, I would botch the instruction horrendously, and secondly, humans seem to have...ah..._difficulty_ grasping the essential basics of the practice."

Jen'Zin grunted. "An' dere be no way dat I woul' have da patience fer anot'ah trip down da path of a shaman," he said. "It be long and irritatin' an' a lot o' doin' ot'er people's grunt work. Not ta mention, we don' really have da time fer it."

"As I said previously, she's got a really soft heart," Zalgash said thoughtfully. "That takes the physical classes out of the picture. She has neither the mindset for a rogue nor the rage for a warrior. And I sincerely doubt that she would make much of a paladin. Humans tend to be righteous, but paladins are self-righteous. Big difference."

They all set down to think. They quickly threw out a warlock, she wasn't sadistic enough. As well as a mage, she wasn't quite bright enough.

Claryssa, who sulked nearby, was thoroughly offended by the discussion. It felt as if they were deciding her life for her, talking about her as if she wasn't even there.

Gat said something, then, followed by a silence.

"Genius!" Gelt and Zalgash both said simultaneously.

And thus, it was decided. Claryssa was to be a priest.

And so, they walked around a cliff edge, away from the hold, overlooking the city of Orgrimmar. She still was not pleased with the way that the whole affair was being played out, but decided, if it was a way to try to make her less of a burden on the group, she would do it. The more she thought about it, the more guilty she felt. Thal, she had to grudgingly admit, was right about her being a selfish little girl.

They neared a serene, shallow lake, with several spindly buildings in the center of it. They went across a small 'road' built out of boulders that had been embedded into the lake, towards a small hut near the back of it.

Jen'Zin took the lead in, and talked to several trolls that were inside. The rest loitered near the door. Claryssa looked at the decor skeptically.

"Yeh, dey said dat dey will try dere best ta teach ya," the shaman said, returning to the group. He patted Claryssa on the head. "Don' worry 'bout anyt'in', dey won' hurt ya." And then, they all left.

Claryssa raised her hand and opened her mouth to say something, but they just waved cheerily and kept walking. She looked back at the priest trainers awkwardly, who sort of looked at each other with a "what now?" air.

* * *

"_I don' t'ink dat ya handled dat very well, Jen," _Gat muttered, casting another line into the shallow lake. "_I mean, well...I'd imagine dat she woul' be rat'er scared, yeah?_"

"_Ya worry too much, Gat_," Jen'Zin replied, cheerily twitching his fishing rod. "_She'll be fine. 'Sides, 's not like dey'll eat 'er, or anyt'in'_."

"_I seriously cannot believe that you are all so irresponsible_," Thal said, reeling her line in and glaring at her empty hook. "_Leaving a young girl in the hands of strangers? And _troll_ strangers at that!_"

"_You're one to lecture about responsibility_," Gelt said, baiting another hook.

"_You know nothing of me, Tauren. You have zero right to talk of me like that_."

"_That logic. Now re-apply it to this situation._"

Thal opened her mouth to retort, then closed it again. Instead she reeled her line in again, and nearly threw her pole into the lake. "_Do these fish ever bite? All I'm getting are weeds and stolen bait!_"

"_Yeah, well, this lake is pretty well-fished_," Zalgash yawned, casting another line. "_It is, after all, in a city. The fish are quite smart, and know what is food and what is not._"

Jen'Zin sighed and looked across the lake. Then froze. His ears drooped a bit, and his eye twitched.

"_What is it?_" Gelt said, noticing the troll's fishing pole droop. Gat looked across the lake and burst into laughter. Followed by Zalgash. Jen'Zin whined.

"_Would someone enlighten me as to the specifics of this joke?_" Gelt demanded irately. Gat only laughed harder, slapping his hand against his brother's shoulder. Zalgash regained his composure somewhat.

"_His ex-girlfriend_," the orc said, still sniggering. "_He sort of disappeared, and left her in the dust. They didn't really get along all that well, but she's not exactly...bright. She doesn't pick up on things and loved our friend here to distraction. Or, at least, thought he did._"

"_So why did he run away?_"

"_I...I can' keep up wit' 'er. I couldn' get a break. Sometimes, it jus' be too much_," Jen'Zin said mournfully. "_I mean, I like it as much as da next guy, but..._" He let out a cry of dismay and quickly tried to pull his hair over his face. "_Oh gods, I t'ink she saw me._"

"_What _exactly_ happened in this relationship?_" Thal enquired slyly, abandoning her futile fishing attempts. Gat rolled into the lake in a fit of glee, splashing about in the shallows.

"_She has quite the...appetite, shall we say, even in troll terms. There are always jokes and rumors about the trolls and their virility, but that particular specimen has a reputation for extreme...promiscuity._"

"_You're using big words, orc. Stop it._"

"_She broke Jen'Zin's dick._"

Thal broke into peals of silvery laughter, her mirth being too much to contain. Jen'Zin's ears flattened further.

"_She did not. It works jus' fine._"

"_You know what I mean._"

The troll grumbled. "_Jus' so long as she don' recognize me, I don' realleh wan' ta explain myself ta her. An' I don' t'ink I've recovered from da last 'eighty-roun' a night' week session._"

With that, Gat stood up and called to the figure across the lake, waving his arm exuberantly. Jen'Zin's face blanched. The figure turned and called to Jen'Zin, who gave a death glare to his grinning twin, and bolted.

* * *

Claryssa sat cross-legged opposite a female troll. She found it quite hard not to feel inadequate when confronted by the priestess, and for good reason. Even though she was calm, there was a certain powerful air to her that was definitely alluring. Awkwardly alluring.

But even that was not enough to suppress the irrational feeling of plainness that came over Claryssa as she looked at her teacher. The troll, Morsayla, was tall and lean. Her smooth blue skin was flawless, and she had piercing gold eyes. Her violet hair was braided delicately and pulled back out of her face, and glinted in the shafts of sunlight that filtered into the room. It made Claryssa feel very...yellow. Plainly yellow. Sure, the boys in Stormwind often called her pretty, but Morsayla was downright gorgeous when compared to the girl. It was like comparing a macaw and a pidgeon. A very yellow, awkward pidgeon.

Morsayla was studying her, thinking of the best way to approach this particular pupil. Claryssa was decidedly old to be starting training, but she was still determined at the same time.

"Well," the troll began, her voice soft yet stern, "I guess dat da best place ta be startin' is at da beginnin'. We trolls usually don' have da patience fer holy or discipline. We usually go da easier route an' deal with da shadow." The pace of her speech was much more fluid than Jen'Zin's, and it had a vaguely hypnotic quality. Then again, Claryssa was also feeling very inadequate, and was putting her on a mental pedestal. "But, since ya don' seem ta have dat kind o' mindset, I will do my best ta try ta teach ya da basics o' healin'." She held out her hands. "Now, give me yo' hands. Now concentrate..."

* * *

It was near dusk when Bhazrael left the hole-in-the-wall enchanting shop. He had gone to look at what sort of supplies they had, and decided that they were not worth his time. Much like the inscription shop, with its sub-par merchandise and poor-quality scrolls. He headed up the drag, going in no particular direction, when he heard a ruckus off to his left. There was an orc there. A big, brawny, brute of an orc, obviously a little inebriated. He was arguing with a tall female troll dressed in a white robe. He was about to keep walking when his eyes fell on the human girl. He groaned. Would fate ever leave him alone?

As he approached the group, he caught the gist of the argument.

"...Are you telling me that you'll defend thish...trash?" The orc demaned, his words slurred a little bit.

"Yes, I be tellin' ya dat. I have been tellin' ya dat fer da past five minutes. Now, move along," the troll responded, her words angry.

"I can't do that," the orc said stubbornly, smashing his fist against his chest. "It ish my duty ash an orc to kill Alliansh wherever they may raish their headsh. Now, shtand ashide or I'll cut through you to get to her!" He drew a rust-splotched axe and pointed it in the general vicinity of the troll.

"Excuse me, good sir, but whatever is this quarrel about?" Bhazrael said, putting on a lofty air. "Ah! I do see that you have found my companion! I am greatly relieved to see her alright, and apologize for any inconvenience she has put you through, my good lady." He went to put an arm around Claryssa's shoulders and got her elbow plowed into his solar plexus.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" She hissed at him. "If you think for one minute-"

"Shut up, you little brat," Bhaz spat at her, gasping slightly. "If this keeps up, shit is going to get real and you are probably going to die. Do you want to die that badly?"

She bit her lip and glared at him. "Fine," she whispered, "but if you even try anything, I swear, I'll scream and you'll be eating troll fist for dinner."

"Yeah, yeah," He straightened up and met the troll woman's skeptical look with a grin. "I'm sorry, a minor misunderstanding. See, she wasn't really expecting me, and we had a little bit of an argument, earlier. Now, if you'll excuse us, we need to be getting her back to the inn."

"Ya be sure?" The priest asked, directing the question at the girl. The human nodded.

"Yeah, it's alright. I've been waiting for him to come pick me up for quite some time."

"Wait, sho now you're going to claim thish girl?" The orc demanded. Bhazrael scowled at him. "It ish my duty to desh...desht...deshtro...kill her!"

"Oh, blow it out your ass," the elf replied, putting a hand on his hip. "Do you really expect to go up against me in your condition? Wait, let me rephrase that. Do you really expect to go up against me in any condition? Actually, on second thought," he put a hand to his chin. "My felhunter could use a snack. He does get surly if he doesn't get fed properly."

The orc faltered a bit. "But...she's a human..."

"So what? Go back to your alcohol, cretin. It suits you better than that pathetic excuse for a weapon." With that, Bhazrael spun, steering Claryssa in front of him and moving steadily down the Drag towards the inn.

They walked in silence for a while.

"So are you stalking me, or something?" Claryssa spat.

"Don't be ridiculous. Why would I stalk a petty little thing like you?" Bhaz said loftily.

"Petty? Who are you calling petty? Mister Split Ends!"

"Excuse me? It's not my fault this climate is not conducive to proper hair maintenance. And you're one to talk! You look like you haven't washed your hair in a month!"

"Well, SORRY for spending the last two weeks on an zeppelin!"

The insults continued back and forth for a while, until they degraded into "spoiled brat" and "faggot." The warlock sighed and stopped.

"Look. Sorry. Okay? Rewind, fresh start." He put out his hand. "I am Bhazrael."

Claryssa regarded him for a moment. Then took his hand. "Claryssa." She cocked her head. "You really do remind me of my friend, you know? You two are almost the same. Except, he had brown hair."

"Had? What happened to this friend?"

"His Hellfire backfired."

"..."

"...What?"

"...That's pathetic."

The two of them continued to the inn in a somewhat awkward silence.

"You're an asshole."


	13. The First Step

Adventure Loves Company, Too

Chapter 13: The First Step

* * *

Gelt, being the only (responsible) person at the inn, took it upon himself to sit Claryssa and her hapless savior down and lecture them. The two blonds looked about the room with a nonchalant air, which only served to enrage the tauren even more. He was seriously debating the merits to moonfire spam when Jen'Zin, his brother, and Zalgash returned from their trip to track down Claryssa.

Jen'Zin took a similar approach to Gelt, lecturing Claryssa. The usual 'I was so worried,' and 'don't you dare do that again, young missy' was prevalent, and he finally settled into berating her in Zandali, for lack of restraint to keep himself intelligible in a secondary language.

Gat and Zalgash, however, were both eying Bhazrael suspiciously. The elf returned their looks with a deadpan, then pointedly ignored them and ran his fingers through his hair absently.

"An' you!" Jen'Zin turned his rage on the warlock. "What do ya t'ink ya be doin' wit' her, eh?"

"Saving her from an unfortunate circumstance," the elf replied lazily. "I really didn't have to. I could have kept on walking. But really, I have to wonder, what were you doing that you weren't there to get her instead of me?"

"I...uh..." Jen'Zin's face flushed slightly and he looked a bit uncomfortable. "Bein' tortured by my past."

"Okay," Bhazrael said, raising an eyebrow. "I don't really want to know. But I tell you what, if it weren't for me, your _darling_ little girl would probably have been on the receiving end of an axe in a rather advanced state of neglect."

The shaman grudgingly admitted that he was grateful for his intervention. But still made it clear that he was not happy about the situation.

"Now, then," Bhazrael said, lounging back in his chair, "now do you feel like telling me why a human is traveling with a bunch of trolls?"

Gat growled at him, and Zalgash put a restraining hand on his shoulder. Jen'Zin scowled at him.

"If ya realleh must know, it be because I enjoy 'er company."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

The two glared at each other.

"Is this testosterone fest going to last much longer?" Thal muttered from the corner in which she was brushing her hair. "Really, you've reached a new low if you're flexing your muscles at this floozy."

Bhazrael sputtered a bit. "Floozy?"

"Did I stutter?" Thal looked at him with a bored expression. "Now, tell me that this warlock is not going to join our little escapade. I think that our group is mish-mash enough as it is."

"Just for that, I am staying," Bhaz said spitefully. The rogue rolled her eyes.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"Anyways," Zalgash said, moving on to a different subject, "I have been planning out the travel route. I'll stay with you as far as your second pass through Crossroads-"

"Second pass?" Thal screeched. "I thought we would only have to pass through that wasteland once!"

Zalgash dug a finger in his ear, trying to clear the ringing. "No, twice. Once on the way to Thunder Bluff, once on the way to Ashenvale."

"Are we seriously going to take that ridiculously roundabout route?" she demanded.

"It is the safest way." The orc thought for a minute. "Actually, I can accompany you to Ashenvale. But once you go back towards Redridge, you are on your own."

"You can't be serious," Gelt said incredulously. "We are going to Crossroads. Then to Thunder Bluff. Then to Crossroads again. Then to Ashenvale. Then to Redridge?"

"An' den ta Desolace, yeah," Jen'Zin said. The tauren groaned.

"I don't want to go to Desolace..."

"...I think I'll just leave this merry group, then," Bhazrael muttered, and started to get up.

"Oh, no you don't!" Thal said, running to the door and blocking it. "I got roped into this scheme, now you're going to share my misery!"

It was about that time that Claryssa stopped paying attention. The combined exhaustion from the two weeks in the air, the first training session, and the excitement of the day had worn her down. She was nearly dozing in her chair when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and Gat motioned for her to follow.

He led her to the neighboring room, which had been rented out for the two girls. She thanked him-or, at least, thought she did-and made her way to the closest bed and collapsed in it.

* * *

It was early. That much she could tell. Claryssa tightened her eyes, wanting very much to fall asleep again. She knew that once she opened them, she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. The silence outside, however, was quite oppressing, and very distracting. She finally gave up and crept out of bed and towards the door. She slowly shut the door and turned to walk down the hallway, and promptly tripped over something and fell flat on her face.

She looked up to see Gat, who had been sitting by the door. He looked at her with a curious expression. She grinned apologetically.

"I couldn't get back to sleep," she whispered. He grinned and picked her back up, and set off down the hall. She followed him, for lack of anything else to do.

When they reached the other room, he motioned for her to wait and crept inside. There was silence for a bit, then a few heavy footfalls, some swearing, followed by a quick scuffle and a crash, and a body hitting the floor. A few seconds later, Gat crept back out of the room and handed Claryssa what she assumed was breakfast: a half a loaf a bread, some cheese and a couple of bananas. He sat down next to the door and she sat next to him, scooting closer to him for warmth in the slightly chill air.

She chewed on her breakfast in silence for a while, her feelings chewing at her at the same time. She finally couldn't take it.

"Do you think it's true? What Thal said, that is...that I'm spoiled and take everything for granted?" She looked up at Gat, who cocked his head slightly. "I mean...I guess it is true...with everything that happened, meeting Jen'Zin and Gelt and you and all that...it still feels as though nothing has changed. Like, I should feel different than when I started. I've been places I never thought I would ever be, and met people that I never thought I would ever meet, but I still feel the same as when I was living in Stormwind. Like it's all so...trivial. Normal." She sighed and started peeling one of her bananas. "She's right. I am spoiled." She finished peeling it and was about to take a bite when the troll stole it. She glared at him and started peeling her second one. Gat sighed and put an arm around her, and said something, but what he said she had no idea. She finished peeling her second banana and quickly swatted the troll's hand away as he tried to take that one, too. She rather purposefully put half the banana into her mouth at once and chewed it, an irritated look on her face. The troll laughed.

"But you know what I'm saying, right?" She said, taking her time with the rest of the fruit. "That I am taking things for granted. Not really living life for life, but living life just because I have to, I guess."

He patted her head comfortingly.

"_Well, at leas' ya know what da problem is. Now ya gotta fix it_," he muttered in zandali.

"That's a terrible habit you have. The least you two could do is teach me that damn language."

He grinned at her and stole the last bite of her banana.


	14. A Day In The Life Of

Adventure Loves Company, Too

Chapter 14: A Day In the Life Of...

* * *

The vast majority of the group had left early that morning. Claryssa was on an accelerated training regiment to be a priest, and Gat had accompanied her there, having decided the previous night that he would more or less be her bodyguard. The notion was quite amusing to Thal, and every time she thought about it, she had to work very hard to keep from giggling uncontrollably. It was obvious that the troll was doting on the girl, and that in and of itself was hilarious. Couple that with the girl being human, and they were a walking romantic comedy.

Jen'Zin had gone with Zalgash to start collecting supplies for their trip. They would be leaving in a couple of weeks, and needed to have supplies to last them the trip to the Crossroads. Thal just hoped that she didn't die of dysentery along the way, or something. Or a snakebite. Damn snakes.

Gelt had disappeared. She didn't really care where the tauren had gone off to. Or at least, convinced herself that she didn't care. He was the only one in the group that she could really banter with. Or was. Until the Blood Elf.

They were sitting in the common area of the inn, Thal lounging ungracefully on a fur-covered bench, and Bhazrael was fixing some minor rips in his heavy black robe. She studied him, reverting to an old bad habit of chewing on the ends of her hair. He glanced up.

"That's a horrible habit," he remarked. His voice was bland and lazy, but he still spoke fairly fast. It was rather irritating.

"That's none of your business," she retorted, not blinking. She did remove the hair from her mouth, though.

"When you're staring at me like that, it is."

"Deal with it."

He fell silent, going back to his sewing. He wasn't exceptionally good at it, she noticed, but he was good enough to fix the patches in the robes. She looked closer at it, and it was obvious that he had owned those robes for a very long time. There were a lot of patches and stitches in them.

"Why don't you replace those?" She asked, a lock of hair going back to her teeth.

"I like them. They're comfortable. And they generally convince people to leave me alone."

She had to give him that. He was dressed in a normal fashion, and it was really odd. He looked very skinny, and not at all imposing like he had when she had seen him before. He had a thin face, the normal long eyebrows, and a thin goatee that a lot of Blood Elf men seemed to favor. His previously honey-blond hair was slicked back, draping down his back and over his shoulders. His hair was definitely enviable, even in its current state of semi-disrepair. Thal continued to nibble at her hair, not removing her eyes from the elf. He finally sighed irritably and threw his needle and thread into the fire in frustration.

"Do you mind?" he demanded, glaring at her. The glow from his eyes briefly intensified. The rogue grinned.

"No, I don't mind," she responded.

"Stop chewing on your hair."

"No."

"You'll ruin it."

"It's not your hair."

He growled at her. "Why am I still here?" he said to no one in particular.

"Well, the literal answer is that you haven't bothered to leave. The answer you're probably wanting is because I won't let you."

"And why won't you let me?" he snapped. He wasn't a patient person.

Perfect.

"Because that troll won't let me leave," she said flippantly, stretching out on the bench. "I tried to kill that girl for a bounty a few weeks back in Stranglethorn. She woke up at the wrong time and saw me, and more or less foiled my attempt. Since then, that Jen'Zin bastard has had me under his thumb. He's a very capable shaman, and I don't want to go up against him. I get the feeling that he's a lot stronger than he lets on. Not to mention, he's a troll. First impressions aside, there are always things that run true for every member of a species, regardless of their personality. I don't want to be on the receiving side of some of those things." She stared at the wood ceiling thoughtfully, her arms behind her head.

"And so, you give yourself a feeling of empowerment and enslave me to your will, is that it?" he said, standing up and pulling his robes on.

"Pretty much, yeah. Not to mention, I'm getting sick of that druid. He's good enough for an argument, but he's no fun with it. He gives up once things start getting good."

"And you're thinking that I will put up with abuse for companionship for who knows how many leagues?"

"More or less." She looked at the warlock again, who was belting his shoulders into place. He looked at her and crossed his arms, his dressing complete.

"I'm hungry. You want to come get some food?"

"Is that a date?"

"Don't be ridiculous."

The Night Elf grinned. "Never."

* * *

Gat was sitting in a corner of the hut that the priests had made their headquarters. Claryssa was in a heavy training session with a very good-looking female named Morsayla, and a rather crotchety old troll named Relzek. The two were bombarding her with instructions and advice and corrections, and the girl had finally managed to grab a hold of the light and shape it into a shield. It was a thin little thing, and shattered into a thousand fragments as soon as it was hit with even a light amount of force, but it was definitely a good start.

"Ya be learnin' fast, girl," Relzek said. "It usu'ly takes 'bout a month fer a beginnah ta even do dat." He flicked the shield that the girl had just solidified, and it cracked, but didn't break. She grinned.

"Yeah, it def'nitely be goin' well," Morsayla said, standing back and observing the girl's progress. The plan was to have each of the priest trainers assist in the girl's teachings to at the very least give her a basic understanding in the arts before the group was set to leave again. "'M jus' curious as ta why dis be so import'nt to ya. Yer realleh puttin' yer all inta dis. Ot'erwise ya wouldn' even be dis far."

Claryssa's attention wavered a little bit and her shield shattered. She huffed a bit and dropped to her knees. She was sweating with the exertion that the training was putting on her. "I want to be helpful. I want to do something that is useful to other people, and not just to myself. I guess I don't want to be a burden my whole life."

Gat grinned a bit. It was all incredibly cute, how determined she was. There was a short break, with something to drink. Then training resumed.

* * *

"I don' want ta have ta pull a goddamn cart t'rough da fuckin' Barrens, man," Jen'Zin said stubbornly. He and Zalgash were scouting about for something to carry the supplies that they were planning to bring. "I would rat'er hunt ev'ry night fer game dan bring a damn wagon."

"There's no other choice," Zalgash said, just as stubbornly. "Your other option is to buy pack animals, and Orgrimmar doesn't exactly have a surplus of those. A few horses, yes, plenty of riding worgs, and some raptors. Your best bet for pack animals would be kodos, and there aren't many of those, either. Take the wagon until you get to Thunder Bluff, then trade it in for some kodos or something."

"Fuck. No. Dere be no way. If somet'in' goes down, dere be no way dat we could run away. Da wagon would be too much of a hindrance, an' we wouldn' be able ta make good time. I wan' ta be in da Barrens as little time as possible. It be hotter'n hell, and dere be very little water or food."

"And you would just have to bring more water and food for the pack animals. Wagon."

"Kodos eat grass. Dere be a shitload o' grass in da Barrens. Animals."

"And what? Sit by every few hours so the animals can graze? Wagon."

"By dat logic, we be havin' ta do da same fer da animals pullin' da wagon."

The two glared at each other. Then both sighed at the same time.

"Let's go get something to drink. This discussion is likely to take a few days."

* * *

Gelt sighed to himself, sitting on one of the huge bones that arched over the drag. The wind ripped at his feathers, but still felt really good at the same time. Being in flight form gave him a sense of freedom that he normally felt that he lacked as a tauren. Sure, he was drab and brown, but nothing really matched the feeling of soaring through the air. He ruffled his feathers a bit, trying to straighten them into some sort of order. He was going to go home looking like he had been dragged through the streets, but it was worth it.

The sun was setting, setting the sky ablaze. He watched the sun sink lower, the sky gradually being swallowed and plunged into indigo. The first stars twinkled in the twilight, and the wind started to chill. He half fell, half dove off his perch, his wings flaring out as he reached the ground. He straightened up, back in his normal guise, and brushed some dust out of his fur and straightened his jerkin. He huffed a bit and set off back to the inn. Another two weeks to enjoy himself, then back on that damned kodo.


	15. Don't Be Fooled

Adventure Loves Company, Too

Chapter 15: Don't Be Fooled

* * *

The week had seemed to fly by. Claryssa had lost track of the days, being so focused on the training the priests were putting her through. She had made so much progress, though, that they had given her the day off so she could rest. So, she had gone with Jen'Zin and Zalgash on their daily scouting expeditions. Today, they were bypassing the mode of transport and looking in to the produce. They were comparing cheeses and salted hams and various other sundries. They were buying some, bartering with a few, having some held until they left, and more or less acting like women. Claryssa sighed at this, and walked along next to them patiently. She was really hoping for something to eat. All this food business was making her hungry.

She scuffed at the ground with the heel of her boot. The demeanor of Gat more or less mirrored her irritation, but they both understood that this nitpicking was a necessary part of the journey, even if it was...well, time consuming.

The day wore on, and the sun climbed higher into the sky. She finally tugged on Jen'Zin's belt and suggested that they get something to eat. The troll, as always, put his hand on her head and laughed, and agreed. They went to a little hole-in-the-wall place and sat outside of the hut, munching on boar ribs.

"How much longer until we are leaving, again?" Claryssa was trying to gingerly pull the meat from the bone, but still making a mess of her fingers.

"'Nother week 'r so," Jen'Zin said, putting a whole rib into this mouth and pulling the bone out, all the meat stripped from it. "Why, gettin' antsy?"

"Sort of," Claryssa said, watching the troll do the same to another rib. It made her wonder just how big his mouth was, but on second thought, she really didn't want to know. "I just keep getting the feeling that I'm being watched."

Gat said something, which Zalgash translated for her, with a dirty look at the troll. "He says that maybe you're just being paranoid. But I don't think that's entirely the problem."

"No, it's not," Claryssa said, looking at her food and picking out bits of meat. "I was talking to Thal the other night, and she said the same thing. She said that she doesn't like going out into the city because she always feels like people are watching her. Suspiciously, even hostile."

Jen'Zin leaned back, his eyes closed. He stayed like that for a few minutes, which Zalgash took to talk some more.

"I understand what you mean about being watched. I've been to Dalaran before, a while back, and I felt the same. Being around your enemies is hard, and it takes a lot of self-control to tolerate it. I think that we may have overstayed our welcome here in Orgrimmar and should leave fairly soon. If nothing else, than for your health." He finished off his food and wiped his hands. "I think it's time to stop pussyfooting around and get everything that we need. We just need enough to make it to Crossroads. Then we can resupply there."

"Yer right, as always," Jen'Zin said, his eyes still closed. "We shoul' prob'ly leave in da next two days. T'ree at da most. Anyt'in' past dat, and we start flirtin' wit' disastah." There was mutual agreement as they finished their lunch and continued on their way.

They returned to the main market area, and started purchasing. They did, much to the shaman's annoyance, purchase a cart in which they put their purchases. Cured hams, dried fruits, barrels for water, blankets, and cookware were negligently tossed into the cart. Claryssa, with the help of Gat, attempted to organize it to maximize the space in the cart, but the other two were buying things so quickly that the girl quickly gave up. They continued for the better part of a couple of hours, the merchants taking note of their haste and bargaining cruelly. But the merchants weren't the only ones who took notice. The girl began to feel uneasy, and noticed more and more that people were watching them. She looked at Gat, who was also a fair bit more alert. He was scanning the crowd around them, eyes narrowed slightly. She edged a bit closer.

Sure enough, an unpleasant-looking Forsaken approached them. He was the size of a human, but he was hunched over, his muscles atrophied to the point that he couldn't stand straight. His eyes glowed with an evil light, and his gray skin was blotched with rot. He stepped in front of Zalgash and Jen'Zin, a sarcastic smirk on his face. As he did that, another undead took the rear, his sword lazily resting on his plated shoulders.

"You seem to be in a rush to leave, friend," the first undead said in a rough tone.

"I fail to see how that is any of your business," Zalgash replied loftily. "And I'm not your friend, pal."

The undead grinned. Several of his teeth were missing. "It is my business. It is all of our business, is it not?" He turned to the crowd that had backed away from the group, forming a circle around them. There were a few cheers. "You really expect us to sit by while you parade a little human girl around? We could live with it for a few days, but she's been here what, a week?"

"I find your tone quite acerbic, friend," Zalgash said through grit teeth. "I still fail to see how she concerns you. She is of no threat."

"No threat? Maybe not now, but I heard that she's taking training?" He laughed, a cold, mirthless laugh that reminded Claryssa of Thal's usual laugh. She shivered.

"Yeh, ta be a healah," Jen'Zin said stiffly. His ears were flat, and his hair was slightly bristled. "Now back off, man. She be none o' yer concern, an' I suggest ya be keepin' yer nose outta ot'er people's business. Or, at leas' what be left of it."

The undead's eyes narrowed, and the second Forsaken lifted his sword from his shoulders into a more alert position. Claryssa suddenly realized why he hadn't said anything: he didn't have a lower jaw. She backed behind Gat, who had growled and took on a low fighting stance.

"Don't move away from us," Zalgash muttered to her. "I think the fight that we didn't want is going to be inevitable."

There was a standoff, then. The two undead stood their ground, not moving forward, but not abandoning their stances. A couple of others had stepped forward: a blood elf mage with black hair dressed in a black and silver silk robe, and another troll shaman with a violet mohawk and warpaint. They stared each other down, and Claryssa backed into the cart, her knees starting to shake.

All of a sudden, a blood elf rogue appeared out of nowhere and drove a knife into Gat's face. The troll let out a sharp oath and clutched his eye, doubled over. The rogue turned, his attention on the girl. Before the other two could react, the opposing rogue had dashed towards Claryssa, and swung a foul-looking dagger towards her. She threw up a shield out of reflex almost too late. The shield shattered at the impact of the dagger, rebounding the force on the rogue, throwing his arm backwards. He didn't miss a beat, though, and drove his other hand towards her, which she quickly ducked and rolled under the cart to the other side.

At that time, the second undead charged at Jen'Zin, throwing him off balance. The first undead intercepted Zalgash, backhanding him, sending the orc reeling. Claryssa backed away from the rogue, who was advancing on her slowly. She looked around, and saw that she wasn't going to be getting any assistance.

"_I can't rely on them_," she thought to herself. The blood elf was grinning wickedly, thoroughly convinced that this was going to be easy. That pissed her off tremendously.

She squared herself, gritting her teeth and bracing herself defiantly. She glared at the rogue, who laughed at her and said something to the crowd in Orcish, who all laughed. Jen'Zin attempted to break free of the undead warrior who was antagonizing him, but the other shaman dashed forward at him with a fire-encrusted mace, demanding her companion's attention. Her look hardened even more as she gathered up her will.

She focused on the rogue. She wasn't entirely sure how she was to defend herself, but she was confident that she would know what to do. She inhaled and directed her mind.

The rogue was enveloped by searing white fire. He screamed sharply, and backed away, attempting to brush away the fire that had set his jerkin aflame. Claryssa almost wavered, but she hardened her resolve again, and took a step forward. A shaft of light slashed at the rogue, startling him more than it hurt him, making him drop his weapon. Taken off guard, he fled. The other four wavered slightly, looking between themselves and Claryssa.

Jen'Zin took advantage of the hesitation and gripped the undead by the head and spun him around, knocking him into the troll shaman and then into the ground with tremendous force. There were several snaps and the undead didn't move. He refocused his attention on the offending troll, and growled low. The violet-haired shaman quavered slightly, but didn't run quite fast enough. He was gripped in a similar manner and spun, lifted off his feet and over the head of Jen'Zin, and introduced to the ground in a similar manner to his companion.

Zalgash recovered as well, taking advantage in a similar, but much simpler manner. He took out his axe and grinned at the undead, who whimpered. The undead bolted, barely evading the sweeping overhand strike that embedded the axe two inches into the ground. The crowd around them broke as well, starting to return to their lives.

Gat, however, was not about to let anything go. He growled low in his throat, his hand still to his eye, blood staining down his cheek. He focused his eye on the poor mage, who had not thrown any spells, but was still standing there. Having lost the target of his rage, Gat redirected it at the blood elf. He dashed after the man, a dagger held low. Jen'Zin and Zalgash both shouted at him to stop, but he couldn't, or wouldn't, hear them. Claryssa, on the other hand, had had enough.

Gat's dagger made a sharp screeching sound as it ground against the wall of light surrounding the mage. Her anger had solidified it far more than her determination ever had, and the mage shivered and dropped to his knees, taken by surprise at the sudden attack and defense. The troll looked back at Claryssa, his eyes angry, but she leveled a similar look at him, crossing her arms. There was a minor standoff, and the rogue relented, turning away from the mage and sulking back towards the inn.

The mage gave her a grateful look and approached slowly, muttered an awkward apology and pretty much handed her his purse. Then he bolted, leaving Claryssa with a bewildered look, holding a rather hefty bag of gold. She looked at Jen'Zin and Zalgash, who were both giving her odd looks.

"What?" she said after a few seconds.

"Nothin'," Jen'Zin said. He took the bag from her and opened it, and whistled. "Yer little charity shield gave us enough ta do some extra shoppin'," he said, closing it back up. "But what made ya do dat? Jus' outta curiosity."

Claryssa floundered with the question her previous drive gone, leaving her a little exhausted. "I was angry, I guess. Upset that they had attacked us, and then angry that Gat tried to go after someone who hadn't really done anything to us."

Jen'Zin grunted. "He's gonna be mad at ya fer a while," he said, turning and going back to his grocery list. "He doesn' like bein' denied, 'specially when it be from someone dat is weaker dan him. Shoul' prob'ly give him some time ta cool down an' realize he be actin' stupid, yeah?"

Claryssa nodded, partly from agreement, and partly from the increasing wave of exhaustion that was coming over her. "Yeah," she yawned. Zalgash suggested that she go ahead and ride in the cart, which sounded like a fantastic idea. She crawled up into a space between the paper-wrapped hams and cheeses, and fell asleep.

She had dreams of being chased by a murderous Gat made out of legs of ham wielding daggers made of cheese. It kind of spoiled the "nightmare" aspect and she started to giggle in her sleep. Jen'Zin sighed and shook his head.

"I t'ink our fight might'a knocked out any good senses left in her," he mourned.

"She had good senses to begin with?" Zalgash asked with a feigned look of astonishment.


	16. Bad Segue is Terribad

Adventure Loves Company, Too

Chapter 16: Bad Segue Is Terribad

* * *

Bhazrael was seated across from the Night Elf, running a brush through his hair and staring off into space. Things were peaceful at the moment, and he fully intended to take advantage of that. It seemed as though things settled down when the two trolls weren't about, which only served to reinforce his opinions about that particular race. He hadn't found very many trolls in his travels, and not a single one of them he found tolerable. They were either rowdy and blowhard-y, or creepily quiet. He was irritated to find that both of those qualities were apparent in the brothers. Jen'Zin, that horrible shaman, was always talking. Always. It didn't matter what it was about, that troll had an opinion on EVERYTHING. And most-if not all-of the time, it was a joke. Bhaz found himself taking the shaman seriously and winding up as the butt of jokes sometimes. It seemed like he knew everyone, as well. He waved to seemingly random strangers on the street, he talks on even with world leaders...the warlock didn't quite know what to make of him, and settled for a bland sort of disquietment.

Jen'Zin's brother, Gat, was just as bad. The rogue barely ever said anything. Sure, a grin here, a laugh there, maybe a sentence or two over yonder, but he just stood there. Like a looming shadow in the background. There had been several times already, when Bhazrael had relaxed, thinking no one was around, and then turning around and seeing the troll standing there, grinning as the elf screeched in fright and then stomped away in a huff. Bhaz was starting to think he did it on purpose, which was more than plausible. He really wondered how the girl got along so well with the troll, especially when Gat refused to speak a lick of common. He had just taken up a self-proclaimed responsibility as the girl's bodyguard, for reasons unknown to the warlock. He sighed and leaned back, stopping his combing to rub a thumb thoughtfully along his jaw. He was getting fuzzy, he must remember to shave sometime soon. He looked around the room for lack of anything better to do.

Thal was stitching a pair of pants she had ripped. She looked fairly innocent while doing it, too, but it was hard to read Night Elves' faces. She pointedly ignored the warlock and continued her work. Gelt was across the room, looking over some maps he had procured from gods-knows-where. He was furious about their roundabout travel plans, and was trying to find a way to cut the trip to Thunder Bluff out of the itinerary all together. It made Bhaz curious, but not curious enough to press his luck with a rather moody tauren. The cow was impossible to talk to when he was feeling moody or melancholy, which, conveniently, was all the time.

There was a few more minutes of silence. Bhaz relished them, knowing that once the shopping group returned, he would not have any more time to relax.

Sure enough, Gat burst into the room, swearing ferociously, the whole side of his face covered in blood, practically foaming at the mouth with rage. Gelt stood up sharply to try to assess the situation, but the troll proceeded to wreak havoc on the room, upending furniture and roaring at the occupants. The blood elf sighed with relief as the tauren managed to calm him down enough to sit down. The troll growled darkly about Claryssa being a fucking bitch-ass priest as Gelt pressed his hand against the rogue's damaged eye. His mutterings grew even fainter as a soft green glow enveloped half of his head.

Bhazrael's curiosity was piqued, and from the look on Thal's face, her's was, too. But they both knew better than to try to talk to Gat. He was a good deal taller than Bhaz, had a strong racial dislike of Thal, and was a good deal stronger than both of them. They would rather not become the object of his ire. So, they sat. Eventually, they privately figured, Jen'Zin would return, and the situation would make sense. Until then, they would sit there, stewing in their insatiable curiosity.

"The hell happened to you?" Gelt asked after a while. The troll muttered darkly, his words unintelligible. "That doesn't help," the tauren said moodily, shifting his hand slightly. "I can't understand a word you're saying."

"She fuckin' got in da way!" the rogue almost shouted, glaring at the tauren. "Didn' get ta do not'in', been achin' fer a fight, didn' get ta do not'in'..." He fell back to muttering to himself. Gelt sighed and continued in silence.

Sure enough, Jen'Zin, Zalgash, and Claryssa returned. Jen'Zin was carrying Claryssa, who was sleeping. He completely ignored his brother and went into the other room to put her to bed. Zalgash lingered in the doorway, his face placid. The air itself seemed hostile, and Bhazrael sighed. This was going to get out of hand. Thal rolled her eyes-or, at least, he assumed she did.

"Now, then," Gelt said calmly as Jen'Zin returned, "do either of you mind telling me what this is all about?"

Zalgash quickly recapped the events that lead up to the current state of affairs. The confrontation, the eye-stabbing, the holy firing, the misdirected anger-ing, and the epic shielding. Gelt grunted noncommittally as the orc summed up the events, pulling his hand away from Gat's eye to see the current progress. He replaced his hand.

"So the shopping trip was busy. Figured this would happen. The enemy inside the walls and all that."

"Yeh, well, dere be bettah ways ta go about it," Jen'Zin said calmly. His face was impassive, but he was watching his brother carefully. "T'ings coulda easily gotten outta hand. Given da circumstances, t'ings worked out for da best."

Gat then stood up violently and shouted at his brother in Zandali. Bhazrael made a face and watched the two of them fight, shouting back and forth alternatively in Zandali, orcish, and their weird made-up language. This went on for a good twenty minutes before they started getting physical. Some rather serious punches were thrown, as well as an epic headbutt from Gat. But one can only watch a brawl for so long before getting bored with it. Bhaz was long past bored and well into pure irritation well past the ten minute mark.

"That's enough!" He shouted. There was a sharp crack as the space between two worlds was shattered in an instant. A huge figure appeared by the elf, which charged the two trolls, separating them violently. It threw Jen'Zin to the ground, placing a giant plate-shod foot on the troll's chest, and lifted Gat into the air by his neck. The felguard lowered his axe at the shaman, and glared at the two of them alternatively.

"I think this sibling brawl has gone on for quite long enough," Bhazrael said sharply. His demeanor was quite different than usual, and the air around him crackled with foul energy. His eyes blazed with rage. "You," he said, pointing at Gat, "so what if you got stabbed in the eye? That gives you rights to another innocent being's life? Grow up. Act your age for once. Your lack of self-control and maturity lead to this incident. And you!" He pointed at Jen'Zin. "Lording over your brother instead of trying to talk to him! I don't give a flying gnome's ass if you are trolls, there are better ways to solve your problems!" He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Zarghoon, enough. Put the rogue down before he suffocates."

"Yes, master." The felguard obediently placed the troll on his feet and removed both his foot and his axe from Jen'Zin and returned to the warlock's side.

There was a slightly awkward silence, in which Bhazrael retook his seat, his demon hovering over him like a hellish butler. Zalgash cleared his throat slightly.

"As much as I appreciate the intervention your...companion provided, I think it may be prudent that he is dismissed. I don't want to have to try to explain our way out of why there is a demon in here." The warrior crossed his arms, staring pointedly at Bhaz, who rolled his eyes.

"Yes, yes. Thank you, Zhar, you always know how to defuse a situation. I'll call you again after we leave this wretched city."

Zarghoon looked distinctly disappointed. "If you deem it best. I'll be waiting." The demon disappeared.

"Well, den..." Jen'Zin rather timidly got up. He sighed and offered a hand to his brother, who hesitated before taking it and being lifted up. The rogue had a hand around his throat where the demon had held him, and was coughing a bit. "Perhaps it be time ta go to bed? We'll be leavin' in da mornin', and I wanna get an early start."

With that awkward announcement, people filed equally as awkwardly to their proper places, and began to pack up and prepare for bed.

* * *

Claryssa's dreams of a ham and cheese Gat continued. Only now she was riding Jen'Zin, racing in a great troll race, in which other people were seated atop a troll's shoulders. She shifted in her sleep, disturbed on some level by her dreams. The sudden change in texture from being placed in a bed soothed her dreams slightly, and she found herself riding on Gat's raptor again. It was kind of nice. The raptor moved smoothly, and she was really enjoying her dream, when she was suddenly awakened by a sharp, resounding detonation. She sat bolt upright in her bed, eyes wide and looking around sharply. She then was overcome with another wave of exhaustion and slid back down in her bed and fell asleep again.


	17. Animal Handling

Adventure Loves Company, Too

Chapter 17: Animal Handling

* * *

Claryssa woke early the next morning. She shivered slightly, having kicked off her covers sometime in the night. She yawned and pulled them up, attempting to go back to sleep, but found that she couldn't fall asleep again. So, she got up and dressed in the clothes that had been set out, and crossed over to the door, opening it and running into giant orc pecs. She stumbled backwards and looked up at Zalgash, who was just about to knock on the door. He chuckled quietly.

"We're getting ready to go. We want to get an early start. Ah, don't worry," he stopped her as she turned to go pack her stuff, "we already did that for you. We didn't want to wake you. Come," he motioned down the hallway, "you'll be riding with Jen'Zin again for the time being. I did offer, but Grel's harness isn't really built for two."

She followed the orc in silence, thinking about the previous day's events. She noticed a broad black burn mark on the floor of the common room, but didn't inquire about it. They passed outside, the wagon loaded up. Gat was avoiding looking in anyone's direction, busying himself with his raptor's harness. There was a vague tension in the air, only broken by Bhazrael's air of contempt. He was seated imperially on a silver hawkstrider, glaring at the huge wall they would soon be passing through, ignoring all around him. There were a few good mornings to Claryssa, but everyone was silent other than that. Jen'Zin gave her a an encouraging sort of grin, picking her up and wrapping her in a bear hug that nearly broke her ribs. He then climbed onto Issa, who had returned sometime in the past few days as if she had never been gone at all.

"We all ready, den?" Jen'Zin said to everyone else. There was more or less a murmuring of assent, and they all started toward the front gates. It was still a little chilly, so Claryssa huddled against Jen'Zin's torso, a little bit happy to be riding with the shaman again. He gave off a more welcoming aura than his brother, and was fun to talk to. She was convinced that Gat would at least make a pleasant conversation companion if he would just give up his stupid idea that common was toxic.

They passed through the gates and were heading down the well-worn road towards Razor Hill. Off in the distance, cliffs licked at the horizon. The heat was starting to rise. The girl found herself trying to scoot farther up the raptor's back to try to escape the oven the troll body seemed to produce.

The sun slowly climbed in the sky. Issa's frustration was easily felt in her small twitches and short trots. Gat's raptor, as well, was being skittish. The slow pace their wagon demanded was taking its toll on the predatory animals, used to a more swift pace. The raptor's unease made Gelt's kodo nervous, which made Bhaz's hawkstrider skittish, which made the wagon kodo nervous. All the high tension just made Zalgash's worg excited, his tongue lolling out of his mouth and barking and whining at the people in the party.

The tempers of the humanoids astride the animals was faring equally poorly. Usually, there would be some friendly banter, but they had been more or less silent since they had left Orgrimmar. It was terrible to endure, and Claryssa was nearing her breaking point. If someone didn't say something soon, she was sure to go insane. That is, if Issa didn't go berserk first.

The black raptor, pushed way past her endurance point, screeched and tore ahead of the group, the shaman swearing at her, gripping both his mount and the girl, trying not to be thrown from the back of the enraged creature. Issa spun around in circles, nipping at Jen'Zin's shins, leaping a good ten feet in the air, shrieking her displeasure into the clear blue heavens. The rest of the group immediately rushed to help, then hesitated. Trying to calm down a raptor who was trying to bite her own rider off her back was not a good idea, so they held back uneasily. Issa finally succeeded in her endeavor, throwing the troll and the girl in separate directions, and streaked off toward a nearby oasis and leaped into the water.

They decided to take a break at that point.

Claryssa had received several scrapes and bruises from her impromptu flying attempt. Jen'Zin was still laughing from the ordeal. However, there was still an uneasy truce. It persisted through the three hours they had to wait for Issa to be coaxed out of the water to remove her harness before it was ruined. And then the next four hours it took to coax her out to move forward. Gelt was surlier than ever at the end of it.

"The sun is nearly set," he harrumphed. "We'll be lucky to make it to Razor Hill before tomorrow's sunrise. We may as well just wait here, I don't fancy being attacked by harpies in the middle of the night." He threw down his kodo's bridle and stomped off to the other end of the small pond. The others looked uneasily at each other, and stripped their mounts and set up camp for the night. Gat gathered up the mounts, picketing them near the shore of the pond. If there were any crocolisks, Issa would have stirred them up in her foray into the oasis. He had been silent the whole day, refusing to draw attention to himself and look anyone in the eye. However, he was having some difficulty.

His gold and red raptor, Razuli, was shying away from Gat, refusing to be tied down to one of the rods he had drove into the ground. He was trying to calm the raptor down, and trying not to be bit in the process. He was near rage, looking for all the world like he was going to try to KO his own mount. Claryssa finally decided that she had to intervene, at least for the animal's sake.

"Gat, do you want help?" She asked timidly, trying to seem innocent. He ignored her and continued to try to calm the increasingly irate Razuli. "Relax, all the grabbing for him is making him even more nervous," she slipped beside him, placing a hand on the raptor's neck calmingly and slowly coaxing his head down to rub his nose. The raptor calmed and clicked and chirpped happily, his tail swaying slightly. The troll looked at her, his expression unreadable. "I guess they're not much different from horses," she admitted lamely. "I was expecting to lose an arm." She laughed weakly. There was a slight pause, the tension and unease palpable. "Gat, why are you so mad with me? I'm sorry that I embarrassed you, but-"

Gat put a finger over her mouth to silence her, looking wholly ashamed of himself. He scuffed the ground a little with his foot and finished tying down his mount. He sat on a nearby rock and motioned Claryssa over, who came over a little timidly. The troll gave her a disparaging look and sighed. She grinned sheepishly. The rogue chuckled and petted her. There was silence for a little while, the sun setting behind them. The frogs were starting to come to life, their chirping easing the tension they had been feeling all day slightly. They continued to just sit, partly to enjoy the sunset, partly to avoid having to help set up camp. The heat of the day was starting to fade quickly, and Claryssa shivered a little bit.

"We should be heading back soon, it's starting to get cold," she said quietly, watching the first few stars appear slowly in the sky. Gat grunted, petting his raptor, who was resting his nose on the rogue's shoulder. "I'll see you in a bit, then." She started back, but Gat caught her arm quickly, but hesitated slightly.

"Sorry," he said, sheepishly. He didn't say anything else, but Claryssa smiled and ruffled his hair. He growled and shook his head.

"Silly troll," she said and went back to the group.


	18. Night on the Desert

Adventure Loves Company, Too

Chapter 18: Night On the Desert

* * *

Jen'Zin sighed as he helped Gelt set up the tent the girls would be sleeping in. The tauren was in a towering fury, nearly ripping the canvas as he threw it over the poles they had erected. Jen'Zin decided to keep quiet. He did not wish to reinforce the fact that it was HIS raptor who had set them back over seven hours, and really didn't want to be on the receiving end of the druid's anger. So, he kept to himself and tied down the tent like a good little troll. It was easy, considering the unease that had settled in their group.

He was unsure what to make of the situation. He knew Gat well, considering that they were twins, but some of the things he did eluded him. Then again, the redhead had always been...well, fiery. Gat always had a quick temper and a sharp tongue even at the best of times, and had a habit of making good situations bad and bad situations worse. His brother was frequently the bane of Jen'Zin's existence, seeing as how the shaman was the one who had to try to patch the holes that Gat seemed to produce in everything he touched. Then again, he thought, it was just because Gat tends to be shortsighted. A moment in their childhood came to mind, in which Gat had thrashed a visiting orc child only to find out that the kid was the son of a very prestigious general, and Jen'Zin had to do a LOT of fast talking and axe dodging to smooth the situation over. After the group of orcs had left the village, Gat got the whipping of his life from his brother. The memory still brought a smile to Jen'Zin's face.

Speaking of his brother...Jen'Zin looked across the small pond towards where Gat was picketing the animals. He was a little surprised to find that Claryssa was over there, helping the rogue tie down the last of the mounts. He tried not to smile at that, but couldn't help himself. Suddenly, it felt as though the stress and tension of the past day was lifted. Jen'Zin gathered up the cooking supplies from the wagon. He strode back to the camp whistling slightly, his arms full of pots and ham and vegetables. He laid out the supplies and began digging out a fire pit, ignoring Thal, who was seated nearby, chewing at a lock of her hair.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" She inquired, wrapping the lock of hair around her finger.

"Not'in'," he replied, and went back to digging.

Bhazrael, who had been chosen to gather up firewood, had returned from foraging. He had managed to impale his left hand on one of the enormous spines that encrusted the trees that grew in Durotar, and was swearing ferociously at Gelt, who was placidly wrapping the elf's hand in a soft bandage.

"Why are you using bandages? Can't you heal it? You're a druid! I don't want to be worrying at a huge fucking hole in my hand for who-knows-how-many months! Aaah! Not so tight!" Bhaz tore his hand away from the tauren, wrapping the tail end of the bandages gingerly around his hand. He had a surprisingly low tolerance for pain, which Jen'Zin found hilarious. Gelt snatched the arm back, wrapping the soft bandages with more coarse, durable bandage.

"Be quiet. I don't want to be the go-to guy for this group. It'll heal just fine on its own, it's not like you're doing anything important with your left hand, anyways." The tauren ignored further whimpers.

"Not unless he be left-handed," Jen'Zin said, grinning and making a lewd gesture. The warlock shot him an evil look, which made him laugh. He picked up the few logs that Bhaz had gathered and kicked them apart, then built them up in the pit. He then turned around and went to chopping up vegetables and one of the cured hams.

"You forgot the fire," Zalgash said, not looking up from where he was polishing a piece of his armor. Jen'Zin grunted and waved his hand negligently and the fire pit burst into a cheery flame. "You can cook?" the orc added, picking at a piece of mud that had caked on an edge. "I never knew that."

"Nah, I can't cook at all," the shaman admitted wryly. "Gat's the one dat cooks. I don' do well wit' food, I jus' make clothes an' stuff."

"You guys are such a married couple," Gelt said, finishing Bhazrael's bandages with a sharp jerk that made the elf bite back a scream. Thal snorted, but said nothing. The warlock slunk off to the other side of the camp, nursing his left hand and swearing under his breath.

"So what's going to happen with Gat?" Zalgash said, putting down the armor he was worrying over. "We can't go another day like this one."

"Don' worry 'bout it," the shaman said, slicing a turnip. "I t'ink dat our odd man out has gone an' smoothed t'ings over easy. Dunno how she does it."

The orc looked over his shoulder to see Gat and Claryssa sitting together, looking at the sky, stained orange by the sun setting. He turned back around, a thoughtful look on his face. "Odd fish," he said, rubbing a hand over his unshaven jaw. "It's weird, she acts nothing like how she should around us. A normal human would be freaking out nonstop. How did you even meet her, anyways? How did you convince her to come with you?"

Jen'Zin thought about that. He sat back, running a hand through his hair then along one of his tusks in a thoughtful manner. He had since forgotten his reasoning for going to Elwynn Forest in the first place. He continued to rub at his tusk. "Well...I guess I was headin' t'rough Elwynn ta get somewhere...not realleh sure where. Oh! Right, I was headin' down ta Stranglet'orn...but whatevah, dat's not da issue. I was headin' t'rough Elwynn, an' decided dat I couldn't wait ta get out of Alliance territory ta get somet'in' to eat..." The story meandered slightly from there, as Jen'Zin was not notorious for his succinct summaries. Thal made a face, but said nothing, choosing instead to chew on her hair as the story eventually got to him finding Claryssa.

"She was jus' sittin' dere, not a care in da world." The shaman shrugged. "I guess I didn' make da greatest firs' impression, but I guess she was smart enough ta figure dat she was too far away for help, so jus' gave up after she tripped tryin' ta run away. Still feel bad about dat." He sighed and went back to peeling vegetables. "After dat, we talked for a bit. A guard came, escorted her back, and den when I was waitin' fer her da next day, I got caught."

"You're such a romantic," Zalgash laughed. "You're such a child sometimes, hoping for all these good things. I guess that's refreshing, but damn!" The orc laughed harder. "If I didn't know you better, I'd question whether or not you were really a troll."

Jen'Zin grinned and surprisingly briefly recounted their epic escape. "An' den we found Gelt here, and den Gat an' Thal, and den you," he said, pointing a half-peeled potato at Zalgash. "I guess dat sums it up. So yeah. No clue how I got 'er to come wit' me, she just did." He shrugged and went back to peeling as Thal let out a roar of chagrin.

"All that talking and it doesn't even answer the question, and then all of a sudden you answer the question, which isn't even really an answer? GAH!" She threw her hair over her shoulder in frustration and rolled backwards into the tent to sulk. The others laughed.

Claryssa rejoined the group soon after, sitting down on the log that Zalgash was seated on. There was a little bit of an awkward silence.

"So, how goes the moody rogue?" Zalgash inquired after a while.

"He's fine," she replied. "He was just throwing a temper tantrum. He's over it now." She smiled sweetly, but her voice betrayed her amusement at the whole affair. Jen'Zin could tell that she was quite proud of herself for some reason, but she wasn't about to tell. He just grinned and finished the vegetables, then yelled at Gat to get his lazy ass over here and make some dinner.

The rogue grudgingly obliged and began assembling the ingredients in one of the stock pots, throwing in some of the spices they had bought almost haphazardly. There was a minor tense in the atmosphere, but Jen'Zin was going to have none of it.

"Don' be usin' too much of dat, I don' wanna be eatin' flavorless food in two weeks!" He punched his brother playfully, who punched him right back.

"_Yeh, well, den ya will be eatin' not'in' in two weeks, den!_" He retorted in orcish. He then grinned, and everyone relaxed and settled down for the night.


	19. Don't Make Me Turn This Caravan Around

Adventure Loves Company, Too

Chapter 19: Don't Make Me Turn This Caravan Around

* * *

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"...Now?"

"No."

"Will we ever be there?"

"Yes."

"Will we be there now?"

"No!"

"How about now?"

"Ask again, and I swear, I will forgo the teachings of the Earthmother and murder you in the most painful way possible."

Thal thought about that for a moment. She was seated on the hard wooden bench of the wagon, pulled up next to Gelt on his kodo. It had been a good nine hours since they had left the small oasis, and although the walls of the canyon provided shade and tunneled a nice breeze to soften the bite of the heat of the day, they did nothing to ease the bruising that was forming on her posterior. Given the state of her buttocks, she was quite sure that whatever kind of torture the tauren could muster would not be anywhere near as painful as the damned bench. Plus, she was at the tail end of the chain, so she was downwind of all the animal smells. It was miserable. She opened her mouth.

"I swear to the Earthmother! Do. Not. Even!" Gelt pointed a finger at her and glared. He snorted and shook his kodo's reins, and the animal groaned and shuffled a little bit faster, Gelt's finger still pointed at her until it became uncomfortable for him to twist around to glare at her.

The elf sighed, resting her elbow on her knee and her chin in her palm. She growled slightly, unimpressed with her situation. If only she had a mount. She could be on the back of a lithe and powerful saber. Then it would be Claryssa bruising her ass on the hardest wood bench in the world. The wooden tires attached to immobile wooden axles did not help. Every small little rock was like a riding over a giant boulder, each little rut and pothole like traversing a ravine. She grumbled, convincing herself that she was too important to be doing this kind of thing.

Thal was not the only one fairing poorly.

Due to mount physiology, there were only so many people with whom Claryssa could ride. Grel was not built for two. Worgs were surprisingly small for a mount, and their harnesses were shaped, so trying to seat two means that the person not sitting right in the saddle gets a much closer encounter with leather than the individual ever wanted. Gelt's kodo, although a sturdy animal, was also not built well for two. Especially when the second person is wearing a dress. Thal lived with lounging on the animal's rump easily, but because she was quite flexible and had good balance. Claryssa would not fare at all well seated behind the druid. Bhazrael's hawkstrider was totally out of the question. They also decided they wanted to put as little strain on the wagon kodo as possible, so they decided not to add the girl's 135 pounds to the cart. So, that left the two raptors. Issa, however, was not exceptionally strong. She threw a fit much faster with Claryssa's added weight added to her load, so she was placed once again between Gat's legs on his raptor.

She was not complaining.

Razuli was a good raptor. He was a lot more tolerant than Issa. Some would say he had less personality, but she found that the animal had a rather sly and cunning one. He didn't prance around like Issa, instead preferring a more regal air. He had the appearance of a prince, but inside he was just as dastardly as his rider. Claryssa found it very fun. Which, she supposed, was part of the reason why she enjoyed being around Gat. Even though he _never_ said a damned word! After his apology the previous night, she had hoped he would drop the ridiculous habit and speak a bit more, but he would have none of it. She had tried to get him to talk at breakfast, but he just grinned at her and said nothing. It was really rather embarrassing, concluding in her screeching at him that he was doing it all on purpose, which make him burst in to laughter, which made her throw her remaining slice of bacon at him and stomp off to sulk.

A very productive morning, if she didn't say so herself.

And so now, she was back to being a pro at reading body language. It helped that Gat compensated for his chosen handicap by being a little bit more obvious about what he was thinking. It was still a little obnoxious.

"Why can't you just give in and talk?" She asked, still a little huffy about the morning. The troll shrugged, a smirk on his face.

_Because it's still amusing_, he seemed to say. Claryssa pouted.

"It's obnoxious! You apologized yesterday, why can't you just talk normally? I know you can. You're just stubborn."

_Of course._ Gat shrugged and poked her ribs playfully. She squeaked and nearly jumped off the raptor.

"Don't do that! I'm ticklish." The immediately regretted saying that, as a huge maniacal grin spread across the rogue's face. This was going to be a long trip.

Jen'Zin was riding next to Bhazrael, trying to learn more about the warlock. It was rather hard, considering that the elf's left hand was bruising terribly from his encounter with Durotar lumber. He had changed the bandage this morning, thankfully before they ate. Gelt had prepared a foul-smelling antibiotic paste that he spread over the screaming warlock's hand before mercilessly wrapping it in a tight bandage. Bhaz was in a decidedly foul mood.

"I don't see how he couldn't just heal it up," the warlock griped. "He's a druid. I'ts easy. Wave his fingers above it," he wiggled his right hand above his left for effect, "and poof! Wound is healed."

"Yeh, well, sometimes it's best for t'ings ta heal on dere own," Jen'Zin said expansively, trying to find some way to defend Gelt but not be roped into healing the warlock's hand himself.

"Don't go defending him, you know as well as I do that this way is going to produce a hideous scar on my hand!" The elf shook his hair back moodily. "I'm never getting firewood again. Ever. It's going to burn like all layers of hell when I try to cast a spell."

"Ironic," Jen'Zin muttered, grinning to himself. The warlock ignored him. They were suddenly distracted by a screech ahead, as Claryssa squeezed herself out of Gat's grip, leaped from his raptor, and sprinted back towards the group. The rogue, laughed uproariously at this, but continued on his way at the front of the group.

"What is your brother doing to that poor girl now?" Bhazrael asked in an amused voice, an eyebrow cocked. The priest sprinted past the two of them, and almost past Zalgash, but the orc snatched her up by the waist and set her on his knee.

"What on eart' be da problem, girl?" Jen'Zin laughed, pulling back to level with them.

"Gat won't stop tickling me," she whined. Her eyes were brimmed with tears, but it was obvious that she was putting on her most pathetic face to try to garner sympathy from the others. Zalgash just laughed and tossed the girl to Jen'Zin. She let out a screech as she flew through the air and shot an ugly look back down at the orc. "You're horrible."

"I try," the orc said, winking at her. Jen'Zin laughed, and kicked at Issa's heels. The raptor whistled shrilly and sprinted up to where Gat was still leading the group.

"I have yo' victim, Gat. Seems dat she got away from ya fer a bit," the shaman tossed Claryssa back at her tormenter, who caught her and set her right back down between his legs, and grinned evilly. The girl whimpered.

"I hate you all so much right now."

Thal sighed from her place way in the back. She could see some kind of commotion going on way in the front, as well as a lot of troll laughing and little girl screaming, but found that she wasn't terrible interested in what kind of torment was going on at the moment, she was too busy trying not to think about her rear end. She noticed that Gelt's kodo had slowed down, and the tauren was nearly in line with her again. She looked over at the druid.

"Are we there yet?"


	20. The Barrens

Adventure Loves Company, Too

Chapter 20: The Barrens

* * *

The Barrens, Claryssa decided, were Hell. Literally, Hell. When bad people died, they were sent to the Barrens. It was dry and hot and dusty during the day. It was cold and windy and dry during the night. Miles and miles and miles of nothing but waving saw grass and the oppressive sun. Jen'Zin joked that it was two hundred miles wide by a million miles long. She knew he was using hyperbole, but inside, she wondered how exaggerated that statement was.

Their pace had slowed to a crawl. The wagon kodo had stepped on a long-rusted, discarded dagger that someone thoughtfully had left in the middle of the road. Gelt's kodo was untrained to a yoke, so they had no choice but to go really, really slowly until the poor beast's foot healed. As a matter of fact, they were going so slow that Gat and Jen'Zin were walking, and letting their raptors chase gaily after the few gazelles and zhevra that grazed the vast plains. Claryssa was sitting on Grel, while Zalgash walked to her side, making sure that Grel didn't decide that he wanted to join the raptors in their fun.

It had been a month since they had left Orgrimmar, yet they were barely halfway to the Crossroads. It was nearly unbearable. The poor kodo's load wasn't lightening any, either. As they ate through the food that they had to ration out for their unexpectedly extended trip, they were replacing it with water. At first, there were two barrels. Then, four. Then five. Now there were eight barrels of water squeezed in and strapped around the wagon. It was good in that they weren't going to get dehydrated. It was bad in that the kodo was having to move slower because of its foot, and that when they stopped to fill the barrels, they had to empty out and refill all of them, lest something foul grow in the barrels.

Yet as they were going on, laughing and trying to make the best of the whole fiasco, Claryssa found herself getting increasingly homesick. She had never been away from home for more than a few days, and even that was rarely. She had always been protected in her home by her parents and her friends. She sighed, trying not to focus on it too much, but she found that the more she tried not to think about home, the more she thought about home. Her warm bed, her mother's cooking, her father's corny jokes. She missed her friends, as well. She missed her father most of all, though. She had always had a good relationship with him, and they would often sneak off together, going to go play around in Stormwind or go out into Elwynn to go fishing. She was sure they were worried sick about her, which made her feel really guilty about the whole affair. She wished she could go home.

The day wore on. Jen'Zin's jokes were getting increasingly worse. It was only a matter of time, as he was having to scrape the bottom of the humor barrel to keep people's spirits moderately high. Thal started telling him to shut up. The two started bickering. Everyone else sighed miserably. The heat was unbearable.

"How much longer until we get to crossroads, Zalgash?" Claryssa looked over at the orc, who was trying very hard to ignore the argument.

"I'm not sure," he replied, "but it probably won't be for another week or two. I wish we could go faster, but if we do go any faster, the kodo's foot is likely to worsen. Perhaps Jen'Zin was right, pack animals would have been better," he grumbled the last bit, looking very cross. "That way, we could have redistributed the weight and kept up the pace we had before."

"No one could have predicted that dagger in the road, don't worry about it. It's not your fault." Claryssa sighed and shifted in Grel's saddle. She was sitting sidesaddle in a conventional one, which was moderately uncomfortable, but she could not keep up with even the wagon's slow pace. She had offered to ride on the wagon, but she didn't really know how to drive one. She was feeling useless again, which only served to augment her homesickness.

"Are you feeling alright?" Bhazrael was still riding on his hawkstrider, and had pulled up beside her. He had been watching her for the past few days, and even though he was really selfish and rude, he was observant, and could tell that the priest was feeling depressed.

"Yeah, just," she hesitated slightly, "homesick. I miss my parents, as lame as that sounds," she grinned slightly, trying to make it look like no big deal.

"There's nothing wrong with missing your parents," Zalgash said, waving away a rather large mosquito.

"I guess," Claryssa agreed, staring ahead at the dirt road, which was waving a little in the heat. She was feeling tired. It must be the sun.

Bhazrael's felguard was walking alongside him. The demon was a little bit of an enigma, but not necessarily because he was a demon. Zarghoon did not act like one would assume a demon would act. he was surprisingly kind and softspoken, and was fiercely loyal to the blood elf. Also, he carried around a small calico kitten. Claryssa was absolutely smitten with the cat, which Zarghoon had let her hold a few times.

"Maybe," the demon mused, "you should write them a letter?"

Duh. It was such a simple, glorious idea! She could write them a letter, tell them she's okay, ease their minds.

"How will it get to Stormwind?" Bhazrael raised an eyebrow at his minion. The demon faltered slightly.

"I...I hadn't thought of that," he admitted.

Leave it to the warlock to bring them back to earth. Claryssa sighed again and went back to staring at the rolling plains around them.

The nights on the Barrens were equally monotonous. They gathered every night just off the road, digging out a fire pit and setting up a tent. Not that the tent helped any. Despite being a savannah, the Barrens had a penetrating, desert night kind of cold, one that drew all the heat out of everything. They only had a blanket each, and even though it was a fairly heavy blanket, it was nowhere near enough for Claryssa, who was quite sensitive to the cold. She hated the cold with a fiery passion that did nothing to mitigate the chill. It was another thing that the others teased her about, but when even Gelt needed a blanket, it was pretty damn cold out.

So, Claryssa had devised a rather ingenious solution within a week after they had gotten into the Barrens.

She slept with Jen'Zin.

It was a little bit awkward at first, but they were desperate times. She was determined to not be cold while she was asleep, so she had braved the even colder air outside the tent to crawl over to where the shaman was sleeping and invade his blanket. He had laughed and more or less resigned himself to his fate of being a very large hot water bottle. It wasn't so bad, though, because he was surprisingly comfortable. Even though it was awkward to roll over only to have her head collide with his tusks, that alone was not enough to deter her from being warm.

That little development had caused the others to tease the both of them outrageously. Claryssa was incredibly embarrassed until Jen'Zin laughed it off and made a joke out of their teasing. Gat had initially been rather surly about the whole thing, but he quickly got over himself and laughed about it, as well.

She sighed again, watching a group of lions lounge beneath a large tree a ways away from the road. The first time she had seen lions, she was alarmed, but the others told her that they're not going to attack in the middle of the day. She quickly relaxed, and they were just another thing that was common in the Barrens.

The Barrens were truly, Barren of anything interesting. Jen'Zin said that in its heyday, it was a lot more alive, with a lot of people doing all sorts of things. Things had changed a lot since then, and war efforts had migrated elsewhere. Claryssa found herself a little bit thankful for that. She had been thinking about her interactions with the Horde over the past long while, and was surprised that she had lived as long as she had. In all fairness, she should have died that day in Elwynn, but apparently she was destined for a great adventure. Or doomed, depends how you look at it.

As the days wore on, Claryssa was more and more convinced that she was doomed.


	21. Change of Plans

Adventure Loves Company, Too

Chapter 21: Change Of Plans

* * *

As they grew closer to the Crossroads, there was an increasing worry about how they were going to pass through the encampment unmolested. Claryssa's identity was not that hard to cover. Bhazrael had actually been the one to suggest blindfolding her and putting a hood over her head. As long as the girl kept her head down and didn't draw attention to herself, she could very easily pass for a blind blood elf girl. Thal was a little bit harder. Her rich violet skin was not something that was easy to cover. There were ideas to wrap her whole body with leather, trying to pass her off as an orc, but Zalgash quickly put an end to that idea.

"She's too tall," he said, crossing his arms. "Her body is totally wrong, as well. Orcish women have more muscle definition, she's a lot more lithe. It won't work."

"Then what do you suggest," Thal replied waspishly, "that I rub myself down with dirt?"

Zalgash snorted. "Wouldn't do any good. Your skin tone isn't something that can be covered easily."

The bickering went back and forth as their argument progressed. Claryssa had gone over to help Bhazrael with his hawkstrider, mostly out of curiosity. The bird was amazing to her, as she had never seen one before. She'd seen tallstriders, but they didn't match the beauty of the bird, nor the grace with which it ran. How it could hold the blood elf with those skinny little legs, she didn't know, but wondering about it took her mind off of her companion's quarrels. It was a bit moody, and wasn't very comfortable with her presence at first, but after feeding him once or twice, it more or less tolerated her.

"I really don't get why we need her around anymore," Bhazrael said quietly, working his mount's saddle off. "You aren't in danger anymore, especially since we're on the opposite side of the world. It would be easier to just drive the elf off than keep her around." The warlock did not care for Thal, and actively avoided her.

"I guess, but I don't think she wants to leave anymore," Claryssa said, stroking his hawkstrider's neck softly. "It's easier to travel together, especially when you're in hostile territory. She might stay until we get to Ashenvale, but even then, I'm not entirely sure she wants to return to her home."

Bhazrael leveled a gaze at her that she couldn't read. "What would make you say that?"

"I don't know," she floundered a bit. "It just seems that she doesn't like where she came from. I don't really think that it's my place to say, but I just feel that she's avoiding going home." The elf said nothing, just narrowed his eyes slightly and turned back to his mount. The bird gave a relieved chirp and started preening itself as soon as its saddle was off. "Besides," Claryssa continued, "I don't think that Jen'Zin has entirely forgiven her for trying to kill me." She said so in a rather expansive tone, like it was no big deal. Bhaz raised an eyebrow. "Sounds silly, right?"

"You have no idea." He crossed his arms.

"Well, you see," she paused thinking of a way to explain exactly how she had come to the point that Bhazrael entered the picture. "I met Jen'Zin, he got caught, I convinced him to take him with me during his escape, and since then I've had two death threats involving daggers, three involving wildlife, and one with a rusty axe. It's been...an interesting last few months."

"I would say so," Bhazrael said, chewing thoughtfully at his cheek. "Sounds familiar. When I started adventuring, things definitely did not go as planned at first."

"Oh yeah?" Claryssa sat down on a nearby rock, hoping for some stories.

"Yes."

"Just yes?"

"Yes."

Claryssa pouted as the elf turned on his heel and strode back towards the camp. She did not see Bhazrael's rather smug smile.

* * *

That night, Jen'Zin found himself staring pensively into the campfire, getting ready to take the first watch. He often found himself being inwardly thoughtful, but the mood rarely exhibited itself on the surface. Now, however, he was mulling things over, working things out in his mind. Time was short. There was something he had to do, and he needed everyone else for it. However, he couldn't just say that to their faces. They'd immediately bail. Most of them would, anyways. Claryssa...well, she'd probably go with someone who could take her home. That idea saddened the shaman, as he really did enjoy the young girl's company. He didn't often have companions, and so many around made him slightly nervous, but the fledgling priestess' presence eased his mind a little bit. She was so cute!

He made a face at that thought that made Gelt look at him slightly weird. He ignored the tauren and leaned back against the wheel of their cart. He had to get to Desolace, and soon. He debated going south and trying to cross the mountains, but dismissed that idea almost immediately. Zalgash's impractical love for carts would just make it almost impossible for them to get over them in time. He sighed and threw a disgusted look at the orc's turned back.

"You look like you're going to change the plan." Thal was lying on the bench of the cart, her head bent over the edge of it, looking at him upside-down.

"Yeh, sorta. We don' really have time ta go to Thunder Bluff."

There was a sigh of relief from Gelt, and he relaxed a little bit. "That's a huge relief. I've been dreading going back there."

"Oh yeah?" Jen'Zin was only vaguely interested in the druid's past, and only replied out of habit. He almost instantly regretted it, but was thankful that the tauren's answer was short.

"I shirked my duties and ran away. I'd rather not face the consequences."

"Ah," Jen'Zin scratched at one of his ears. "At any rate, if we take da time to go to Mulgore, we'd eit'ah have ta stay dere fer almos' a half a year, or swim back t'rough da Barrens."

"Swim?" Thal inquired, rolling over on to her stomach. "This place is drier than that cow's sense of humor."

"Well, ya see, mos' of da time, it is. Howevah, once da rainy season hits, da entirety of dis hellhole becomes a quagmire." He crossed his arms thoughtfully. "It'll be rainin' in a few months, and I'd rather not be around fer it."

"It rains here? Impossible."

"'M serious! It be like someone jus' dumps an enormous bucket o' water out ovah da entirety of da Barrens. A solid curtain o' water, and da whole place becomes green fer maybe a month before becoming a dead, miserable expanse of sawgrassy savannah."

Thal pursed her lips, trying to imagine such a deluge. "I find that a little bit hard to believe. I may have to see it myself to believe it."

"Yeh, well, see it on yer own time, I be havin' no interest in havin' anotha experience wit' da rainy season."

"Another? You've been through it before?"

"Yeh, an' it was miserable. Da rain was so hard, it ripped my tent to shreds, had to take refuge in a tree. I wasn't dry fer two months. Was sick as a dog afterwards, though." He shuddered, then sighed, and went back to staring pensively into their campfire.

* * *

Gat sat at the campfire, starting up dinner. He glanced at his brother as he stared into the fire, but didn't say anything. Jen'Zin always put too much thought into everything. He worried too much, and that had actually worked counter to his goals at several times in the past. The rogue sighed and threw a few sliced turnips into the pot. He glanced over towards the small pond their mounts were picketted by, watching Claryssa and the elf talk. He wasn't sure what to make of the warlock, and reserved his judgement until he had more contact with him. Not that he had any interest in doing so. Elves annoyed him. Especially Night Elves. Especially Thal. He shot a furtive glance in the other rogue's direction, growling slightly as she blatantly stared at him. He was convinced that she did it because it unnerved him. He'd actually asked her to stop a few times, which had immediately degenerated into shouting, and once almost into fighting.

Thal stuck her tongue out at him impishly. He bristled and growled again, turning back to the potato he was mauling with a small knife.

Bhazrael returned to the circle of firelight, and soon after, Claryssa. She hovered over his shoulder, looking at what he was making for dinner. He offered her a potato to peel, which she declined, laughing.

"Any food I touch is instantly ruined, you don't want me touching dinner." He laughed and pulled lightly on her sleeve, getting her to sit down. He put a potato and a knife in her hands and patted her on the head. She sighed began peeling the potato with a defeated aura about her. Gat chuckled and started cutting up one of their salted hams into cubes.

Claryssa was probably the only one of their companions whose presence he could tolerate for long periods of time. Even though sometimes she would just start talking and not stop for literally hours on end, her voice was not very penetrating, so it was easy to just let her babble become just ambient sound. Of course, he had to train himself to give some sort of noncommittal affirmation whenever she looked up at him while he was doing this, but it wasn't very hard. Of course, if she found out that he was pretty much ignoring everything that she was saying 90 per cent of the time, she would get quite upset, and probably throw a tantrum. It would probably be adorable.

He chuckled a bit, which caused a suspicious look from Claryssa. She inquired as to what he was laughing about, and he just grinned. She threw the potato at his head and walked off to go sit by Jen'Zin, pouting. Gat laughed and returned to dinner.


	22. Subterfuge

Adventure Loves Company, Too

Chapter 22: Subterfuge

* * *

Thal was dying. Quite literally, dying.

That accursed little priest had come up with what should have been an excellent idea for getting through the Crossroads safely, but now that she was in her disguise, it was torture.

She was dressed head to foot in leather, every inch of skin covered, her hair bound into a ponytail by a long strip of leather to hide most of her hair color, and some old smoke-covered goggles Gelt had over her eyes to hide the glow. She was wearing a pair of Gat's old gloves, and had brutalized another old pair and attached them to the end of her shoes so it looked like she had two leather-wrapped toes. So if one didn't look _too_ closely, she looked like a female troll.

But it was brutally hot in the outfit. She thought she might die if she wasn't constantly drinking out of a water skin at her hip.

Claryssa got the better of the disguises. She had a strip of cloth over her eyes and a hood pulled low over her face. She was sitting on Bhazrael's hawkstrider, looking like some blind Blood Elf girl. Bhazrael had summoned up a fel horse and was sitting rather disconsolately on it. He had made it pretty clear to the rest of the group that he hated pulling up demon horses. It was obvious why. The thing was prancing around and being belligerent, wanting to show off for no reason whatsoever. His hawkstrider wasn't very happy about the arrangement, as it was a rather temperamental bird, and didn't take kindly to being ridden by a stranger, but rather sullenly accepted her as she did feed him every now and then.

Jen'Zin and Zalgash were taking the lead, ready to do some fast talking in order to get through the encampment without any problems.

Yet, Thal was still sitting on the hardest bench ever created. Why couldn't she ride something else, and the little girl drive the wagon? Well, the priestling gave a pretty good answer to that earlier that day.

"Oh, sure, let the blind girl drive. Nothing at all can go wrong with that."

Thal decided that she liked Claryssa better when she wouldn't stand up for herself. She took another drink from the quickly emptying waterskin. It wasn't fair.

They were quickly approaching the Crossroads, the high guard towers obvious and the fence of stretched and dyed skins coming into view. Thal was getting nervous. Usually, when she approached enemy encampments, she was stealthy about it. This time, that option was not available to her, and she was practically waltzing right into the midst of a legion of orcs. She chewed on her lip behind her mask. Claryssa's hawkstrider was being led by the wagon, and the girl spoke up.

"I hate this. I can't see anything. I don't know where we're going, I don't know what's going to happen." She shivered. "At least you are wearing goggles. I can't see through this cloth. It makes me nervous."

"Well, at least I'm not the only one," Thal responded, flexing her fingers inside the over sized glove. It chafed in weird places. "I look nothing like a troll, and I will probably be examined a bit closely. I can't even say anything, I can't get the speech right." She sighed. "I hope we don't stay long."

"Don't worry," Gelt said, slowing his kodo down to keep in step with the two of them. "We'll be getting a new kodo for the wagon, a few more supplies, and then be on our merry way."

"You telling us not to worry is a bit out of character," Claryssa chuckled. "I would peg you for the person to be putting up the most fuss about how we are obviously _not _Horde."

"Am I really that miserable?" Gelt muttered, his ears drooped slightly.

"Yes," Thal agreed, "you are. You're our lovely little ray of gloom and doom." She batted her eyelashes at him, and he harrumphed and moved away. She sat back against the cart again, looking up at the sky through the tinted lenses of the goggles. That's probably what she hated most, the tint. It made her perception skewed, and the slightest skew could potentially throw off her whole game. She sighed.

Suddenly, Bhazrael let out a startled oath as his horse, for reasons unknown, decided to dart across the sawgrass towards what, no one could say. He pulled on his reins and was jolted right off the back of the beast when in bucked for no apparent reason. He flew threw the air, swearing the whole time, but managed to land on his feet. With an angry flip of his hand, the horse was instantly propelled back to whatever hellhole it was pulled out of in the first place.

The warlock straightened his robes, spat in the direction the animal was last in, and strode angrily back towards the group and climbed into the small cart bench next to Thal. Ordinarily, the Night Elf would have started to make fun of him, but his eyes were glowing from anger and embarrassment and he was muttering constant curses under his breath, some in a foul language she couldn't recognize. She decided not to press her luck. Being set aflame while inside an already boiling leather suit could be quite uncomfortable.

The rest of the group glanced at him, but continued on their way.

The red leather barrier of the Crossroads grew inexorably closer. Thal's nerves did not improve as they grew closer, and Bhaz started glancing over at her.

"Worried?"

"Not at all," Thal said, her voice laden with sarcasm. "I'm perfectly fine. _Of course I'm nervous!_" Her voice turned shrill. "I'm not used to just sauntering into a place without any stealth at all. There's so many things that can go wrong. I know what I'm doing when I'm sneaking, I don't know what I'm doing when I'm disguised." She shivered to try to let off some stress. "I hope our esteemed leaders know what the hell they're doing. I certainly don't."

"At least you can _see_," Claryssa pointed out again. Bhazrael grunted.

"I suppose we can only keep our mouths shut and hope for the best. Maybe if I stay here, they'll keep their eyes on me and not worry about you two. A warlock decked out in evil-looking robes tends to attract attention."

"Let's hope, for your sake, that they keep their eyes on you, then," Thal growled, her grip on the reins tightening. "If something happens, so help me, I will shave off all your hair and stick it back on with kodo shit!"

* * *

Gat was unsure about this whole facade. He glanced backwards at the two girls in their disguises constantly, trying to determine whether or not they would be able to be found out at a glance. The only downside to this was that he knew what they actually were and thus their disguises were meaningless to him. He sighed, the third or fourth time he had in the past few minutes. His brother looked over his shoulder and shot him a look. The rogue grimaced. His brother grinned in a way that was meant to be reassuring, but it made Gat even more nervous about the whole ordeal.

He reined in his raptor, waiting until he was beside the cart to continue moving. Thal shot him what he assumed was a weird look at the action.

"I feel a bit better being back here," he said in orcish as a way of explanation, but she just snorted and looked forward again.

"You just want to keep a close eye on your girlfriend," she said haughtily. Her default method of teasing.

"She is not," he said. "I guess I just would rather her not be all by herself if you two get found out." He shrugged.

"I've got this little girl here for that," Thal said, motioning towards Bhazrael with a sharp gesture. The warlock said nothing in response.

"Dammit, Gat," Claryssa growled from her place at the end of the train, "Would you stop it with this ridiculous anti-Common campaign you've got going on?" Her pout was barely visible from underneath the hood she wore. "I hate not being able to understand a thing you're saying, and now I can't even _see_ you, which is doubly annoying."

He let out a short laugh and lagged behind to ruffle Claryssa's hair underneath her hood. She stuck her tongue out at him belligerently. He laughed and stayed next to her, more to keep his own mind at ease as they shuffled through the gap in leather into the ramshackle encampment called the Crossroads.

It was much the same as it ever was, carts and kodos stabled near the small inn as wagoneers stopped to rest and get drunk. Guards lounged indolently around the town, not paying much attention to anything or anyone in particular, and giving only a passing glance at the group as it walked through. The whole group seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as a new kodo was purchased to replace their wounded one pulling the cart, bought a few more provisions, and left with pretty much no trouble at all. They moved quickly out of the area, north towards Ashenvale.

"Are we out of eyesight?" Thal asked, an edge to her voice.

"Yeh, we be safe now," Jen'Zin answered.

"Oh, thank Elune!" She proceeded to violently strip all the leather from her body, and flopped backwards over the stuff in the cart, letting her skin cool off, moaning in relief. "I thought I was going to be baked in my own skin before we got out of there."

Claryssa pulled off the heavy hooded robe she was wearing and unbound her eyes. She sighed, too, and glanced over at Bhazrael. "Do you want your mount back? Thanks for letting me ride him." She patted the bird's neck, and it chirped in response. "I can ride on the cart if you don't want-" She squeaked suddenly, as Gat had pulled her off of the bird by her waist and sat her in front of him on his raptor and proceeded to trot up towards the front of the group. "A little bit pushy, aren't we?" she glanced up at him, irritation on her face. "I just start cooling off and then I get plopped right back into a troll oven." She crossed her arms and pouted again.

Gat chuckled in response. She ignored him.

"Jen," she called up to the shaman, "how much longer until we get to Ashenvale?"

"Oh, I'unno," Jen'Zin mused, rubbing his jaw with his knuckle. "Mebbe a week?"

"Great. I'm going to smell like troll for _years_."


	23. Breaking the Language Barrier

Adventure Loves Company, Too

Chapter 23: Breaking the Language Barrier (Among Other Things)

* * *

They had been traveling north for three days. Three grueling days of hot, arid savannah and sweaty troll thighs. Three days of sleeping on dirt and eating increasingly stale food. Three days of nonstop travel.

Needless to say, Claryssa was in a very foul mood.

Actually, everyone's mood had deteriorated, and waspish comments and bickering were common. For the sake of everyone's sanity, they decided to make camp early that day, setting up not far from a little oasis that Claryssa immediately claimed as hers so she could take a decent bath for the first time since the whole darn escapade had started, and vanished as soon as camp was set up.

Jen'Zin was looking over a chart, a pen held in his mouth, measuring distances with his hands. Gelt trundled over to him, for lack of anything better to do.

"Where exactly are we going, and why do you feel the need to go there so quickly?" The tauren had been meaning to ask him this for a while, but the opportunity had never presented itself to do so.

"Desolace," the shaman muttered absently. "From dere, I dunno. Depends on what we find. As to why," he leaned back to look at the druid and took the pen from his mouth, "I had a dream a while back 'bout da whole place burnin' wit' a green fire. It could be not'in', but den again, it could be somet'in'."

Gelt stared at him. "So you're dragging us across the continent on a dream?"

"'Ey, I nevah told'ja ta stay," the troll pointed out, while pointing the pen at him. "Da only two dat I made any demands 'bout stayin' were Clar and dat uppity rogue. Da rest of ya nevah had ta come wit'." He returned to his map, starting to draw out a path though Ashenvale, then stopped and glared at the paper.

"So you're telling me that I've been a hanger-on for no reason whatsoever?" Gelt demanded, that realization suddenly coming that he never had any obligation to stay. He was suddenly furious with himself, and he stamped off to go sulk by himself.

The shaman more or less ignored the obvious outburst, and continued to scan the map. There had to be a way through Ashenvale that was able to be traversed by wagon that did not involve going through Astranaar! He looked around.

"Has anyone seen Gat?"

* * *

Claryssa regarded the small oasis, her face straight and impassive. It was only about twenty feet wide by thirty long, perhaps ten feet at its deepest. She threw a rock experimentally into the middle of it, seeing if anything was disturbed by the rock, before finally becoming overcome with excitement.

She looked around furtively, making sure that she was the only one in the area. She proceeded to pull off her clothing exuberantly without any regard to decency, tossing each article over her shoulder. She then dashed towards the water's edge and jumped into it.

The water of the oasis was a little bit chilly, but that suited Claryssa just fine. She couldn't imagine taking a hot bath, or even a lukewarm bath in the heat of the Barrens. She had just finished scrubbing herself down for the third time, and was now just floating in the water, submerged up to her nose in the crystal-clear water. She tried hard to forget about the frustrations of the previous week, between the stress of going through the Crossroads to the sneaking suspicion that she would never be able to get the smell of troll off of her. It wasn't exactly something that a young lady wanted to smell like.

She could only imagine what her mother would say. The woman nagged her enough about finding a good boy and settling down as it was without adding an un-womanly aroma to the mixture. Claryssa snickered a bit at her imaginings of her mother fretting over it and trying different methods of covering it up. She then sighed, and found herself getting homesick again. She tried thinking about something else, but she couldn't quite get her mind off of her parents. She wondered what they would be doing right now, whether they'd be mourning her death, or hoping that she was still alive. The priestling felt her mood drop considerably.

Claryssa sighed and made her way to the bank, ignoring the touch of the few weeds in the pond. She dried herself off slowly, and pulled on the fresh clothing she had grabbed for herself in a similar dull, slow manner. She sat with her back to a tree, and stared pensively into the oasis, trying to take her mind off of her home.

In her preoccupied mindset, she did not notice the crocolisk until it was too late.

She heard an evil hiss and looked up sharply, seeing the reptile not five feet from her. She froze, staring at the creature as it opened its tooth-encrusted jaws and hissed malevolently at her. She slowly inched her way into a half-standing position, trying to get her mind to work right, not taking her eyes off of the crocolisk the entire time. It continued to hiss at her and thrash its tail, clawing at the earth with its six clawed feet.

A short stalemate was met, in which neither the human nor the animal was willing to make a move. Then the reptile decided it had enough of the girl's presence and charged.

Claryssa let out a scream and bolted, focusing only on getting her legs to work as fast as possible. She could feel the creature right on her heels, and gaining ground.

Suddenly, Gat was there. He jumped from one of the tall palm trees that lined the oasis, and came crashing down on the creature's neck with a resounding crack. The crocolisk thrashed, its muscles spasming from its violent and sudden demise. The troll danced away from the snapping jaws and violently sweeping tail. He watched the body jerk and twist for a second before striding over to Claryssa to make sure she was alright.

She quite nearly cried as she hugged him around the waist, happy that someone had been there. She didn't notice Jen'Zin and Bhazrael, who had rushed to the oasis to see what she was screaming about, and didn't hear what they were talking about. Life and death situations weren't exactly something she was equipped to handle.

Something nagged at the back of her mind. A sneaking suspicion started to come over her, and she released her grip on Gat and looked up at him, trying to read his expression.

"Gat," she said, scrutinizing him. He looked down and cocked his head.

"Were you spying on me?"

The reaction was immediate and rather hilarious. He flushed and looked away, then shook his head vigorously, trying to convey through body language that he was most definitely not. Claryssa was not exactly convinced. She heard his brother and the warlock start to chuckle.

"Come now, Gat," she said rather flippantly, a little bit irritated that her privacy would be violated, "aren't you a little bit old to do that sort of thing? It's awfully disgusting." She sniffed then, and turned on her heel, her irritation turning into a vague feeling of having herself been violated.

The rogue seemed to be struggling with himself, trying to find a way to redeem himself in her eyes. He finally resigned himself to his fate and reached out for her shoulder.

"I," he hesitated, seeming to struggle with the words, "I wasn't watchin' ya," he muttered, his voice halting, obvious he hadn't spoken common in a long time. "I was facin' da ot'er way, honest. I jus' wanted ta make sure not'in' happened to ya..." His voice drifted off. His ears drooped and he gave her a guilty, pathetic look reminiscent of a puppy caught doing something naughty on the floor.

Claryssa stared at him for a few moments, at first shocked he actually said something other than just one word, and then overwhelmed at the puppy-dog eyes. She tried very hard to remain mad at him, but...that face! She started to laugh. Weakly at first, but it quickly built until she was doubled over and crying because she was laughing so hard. The rogue looked offended, trying to figure out what was so funny.

"I'm sorry," she said quickly, trying very hard to swallow her laughter. "I don't mean to be insulting, it's just..." She broke off for another wave of laughter, and tried to regain her composure. "I just can't be mad at you when you make that face! It makes you look like a sad little puppy." She reached up and hugged him, laughing into his chest. "I'm sorry," she said, still chuckling. The rogue still seemed to have an air of one who was mortally offended, but grudgingly returned the hug.

"Ah, ya know wat dis means, Gat!" Jen'Zin said, also laughing at his brother's misfortune and misunderstood actions. "Ya gone an' broke yer anti-common streak. Ya gotta speak common from now on." The shaman grinned at his twin, who glared at him. "'M serious! I'll ignore ya if ya speak anyt'in' ot'er dan dat!" The rogue started to protest in zandali, to which Jen'Zin quickly cut him off. "Ah, I can' undahstand a word ya be sayin', mon!"

Gat glared at him. Jen'Zin grinned in return.

"I hate ya sometimes."

* * *

"So you were caught spying on her?" Thal asked, her amusement at the situation apparent after it had been described in rather expansive detail.

"No!" Gat said indignantly, still flushed from earlier. "I wasn't, and wouldn't do anyt'in' like dat." He crossed his arms and looked away, retaining his air of having been mortally insulted.

"Come now, you can't say that you didn't see _anything_," Thal pressed, grinning viciously. She wanted to make the other rogue trip up, say something that he shouldn't.

"I didn't." He continued to glare at the sun dipping below the horizon.

"You're a disappointment to males everywhere, then," Thal sighed, leaning back against the wagon wheel and giving Gat a very disappointed look.

The troll did not respond to that, and instead sat down in front of the fire and glared into it, obviously embarrassed by the whole affair. Claryssa felt a little bit guilty about calling him out about it, but on a positive side, she had successfully ruined his streak of not speaking common. She wrapped her arms around his neck from behind and hugged him.

"I'm sorry, Gat, I didn't mean to make you feel embarrassed or anything. I really am grateful that you were there."

He grunted. "'S okay. Not yer fault."

She released him and raised an eyebrow at him, but more or less left him alone after that. His mood also did not improve through dinner.

After everything had been cleaned up, and Thal and Jen'Zin sulked off for their watch duty, Claryssa crawled into the tent erected for the women and wrapped herself up in her blankets. She was about two minutes from falling asleep when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She jumped, surprised, and tried to roll over to see who the hand belonged to, only to get tangled in the blankets. She finally opened up a small peephole in the mass of cloth to see Gat sitting in front of her with an amused expression on his face.

"What?" she asked, probably a bit more angrily than she meant. He looked a bit guilty for a second.

"I wanted ta apologize."

"For?" Again, a little more acidic than she meant.

"For bein' nasty to ya," he said, running a hand through his hair. It was out of its ponytail, and it looked strange on him. "I shouldn'ta been so angry at'cha."

She blinked at this, and unwrapped herself from her blankets. "It's alright, I understand why you were upset. You got embarrassed, and embarrassment isn't really easy to deal with. I should have known better than you weren't spying on me." She gave him a smile but he looked unconvinced.

"Still," he said gruffly, crossing his arms. "I was mean to ya, and I'm sorry."

She gave him an odd look, and there was sort of an awkward silence for a few moments, in which she yawned several times.

Well," she said finally, "I forgive you, and since you're no longer in a foul mood, I guess I can ask if you feel like being my hot water bottle tonight since you brother's off cavorting with the night elf on guard duty." It was a weird question in any context, but desperate times called for desperate measures, and the nights in the Barrens were brutally cold. Gat looked at her, uncertain of what to make of the question. "Poorly worded, I know, but I don't really enjoy being cold when I'm asleep." As she said that, she started shivering and pulled the blankets tighter around herself. He agreed, and rather awkwardly crawled into her blankets and shifted around to try to get comfortable. She noticed that he wasn't quite as comfortable as his brother, but was a great deal warmer.

* * *

Gat found himself in a dream later than night involving himself and the priestling.

One of _those_ dreams. Which he had not had in a while, and even then, didn't really have often.

It was a pretty darn good dream, too. Gradually, however, he started to realize that her saying his name was not actually part of the dream.

"GAT," Claryssa half-screamed in his ear, a last-ditch effort to wake him up before she started smiting him.

He started, his eyes snapping open and staring at the disgruntled girl on top of him. He immediately realized that one of his hands was gripping her rear rather strongly, and quickly removed the offending hand.

"Sorreh," he muttered, uncertain of what exactly he should say in this very embarrassing situation. Today was just _not_ his day.

"Look, as flattering as this is, I would really appreciate it if you did _not_ have dreams like that while I am sleeping on top of you." As she said this, she rather delicately rolled off of him, still giving him that 'I-can't-believe-that-you're-really-doing-that' look. He grinned helplessly at her.

"I can't realleh help what I dream about," he said pathetically. She rolled her eyes and rolled over, her back to him. He made to roll over with her.

"Don't even _think_ about trying to spoon me."

He gave a weak laugh. Then he waited for her to fall asleep again and did it anyway.


	24. Change of Scenery

Adventure Loves Company, Too

Chapter 24: Change of Scenery

* * *

Gat sat astride Razuli, staring at his brother's back ahead of him pensively. Claryssa was riding with Jen'Zin today, something that the rogue was just fine with. He had been driven from the priestling's tent that morning by harsh words and smites, having gone against what she told him not to do, but he decided that the ire of the girl was worth it. She was quite comfortable in his arms, but that in and of itself presented a problem. He didn't know if it was fair to her.

He shook his head, and figured that he would just get melancholy if he thought to hard about his position with the girl. It was painfully obvious that he adored her, but he didn't really know her position on him, and thinking about it too much would just make him high-strung and moody. The last thing the group needed was a Gelt clone. Besides, the more he thought about it, the more the phrase "cradle robber" seemed appropriate.

Instead, he focused on the fact that everyone was now making fun of him on some level for breaking his signature quirk of not speaking common. It was moderately frustrating, and a little bit embarrassing. The major source of his woes was sitting on the wagon, eying him with a sardonic smirk. He was doing his best to ignore the night elf. She was a constant pain in his backside, as she jumped at the opportunity to goad him into a fight. The frustrating thing was, although he was stronger than she, Thal was a lot more flexible and faster than him. Then again, he didn't really train in the arts of assassination so much as he did in swordplay and skill in face-to-face combat.

"So, troll," she said passively, "how was your night with the priest?" An attempt to spark his ire disguised as an offhand question. He really believed that this elf was a troll in disguise. He grunted noncommittally, trying to make her lose interest. She did not.

"I noticed that she was quite upset at you waking her up because of a _dream_ you were having. Has it really been so long for you?"

He continued to ignore her. One of her eyebrows twitched in annoyance.

"I mean, after all, you have to either be a virgin or deprived to have dreams like _that_, right? Especially when you're sleeping with the girl in question."

He didn't respond. He did notice, though, that the elf was starting to get mad. This was his favorite part of exchanges like this. Goading her into a fit of rage by not responding to anything she was saying. She lived for attention, and snarking at her companions was her favorite way to do it. By not responding to her prods, he denied her the attention she sought, and was thoroughly amused in the process.

"I bet you've never even seen a female nude before. I bet you're a thirty-year-old troll virgin." Her insults were getting bad. She was losing her grip. Now was the time for the _pièce de résistance_.

"Hm? Ya said somet'in'?" He looked over at her with an overdone expression of innocence, as though he had been lost in thought and had not heard a word she said. She glared at him for a few seconds, his expression not changing. She finally muttered to herself and ignored him for the rest of the day. He grinned to himself and whistled tunelessly for the better part of an hour.

* * *

They had passed through the blockade between the Barrens and Ashenvale with very little trouble. Most of the guards were too preoccupied with what they were doing, and Zalgash said that Thal and Claryssa were hostages, which the orcs accepted after a few gold coins exchanged hands. Claryssa questioned this after they had passed the pikes that marked the beginning of the blockade.

"Bribery isn't exactly rare," the orc explained. "Most of the warriors in small outposts like that don't give a damn who you are or your reasoning for the company you keep. They have more important things to worry about. Most of the time, they have to investigate because of regulations, but they are usually more than happy to forge those papers or ignore your presence altogether for the promise of a few rounds of drinks."

The difference between Ashenvale and the Barrens was just as stark and shocking as the difference between Duskwood and Stranglethorn. The Barrens was cut away by the mountains that separated the two areas, and the cool air of Ashenvale blew outwards, cooling them and refreshing their spirits. Tall trees blocked most of the light, but unlike Stranglethorn, the trees did not seem to capture the heat. The color palette was a pleasant mix of purples and blues and greens, and Claryssa found herself gawking at the strange flora that surrounded them.

"I wanna make a side trip," Jen'Zin said to the rest of the group. "I got a couple o' friends dat would probably be able ta make our trip to Stonetalon easiah." He scratched at his ear. "T'ankfully, I misread da distance from hea to da Talondeep Pass, so we don' gotta worry 'bout Astranaar at all."

"Well, that's a bonus. Instead of being destroyed by Sentinels on the spot, we instead can deal with the oh-so-friendly Venture Company instead." Gelt was still not happy that he had allowed himself to be tricked into staying of his own free will. He did not, as Claryssa noticed, leave, however. Jen'Zin grunted.

"We should be able ta sneak past dem for da mos' part," he said, rubbing his jaw.

"For the most part?"

"We'll see what happens when we get dere, mon. Keep yo panties on."

They continued to travel in general silence, the oppressive antiquity of the trees around them encouraging them to keep silent, similar to the feeling of a giant cathedral. They turned off the road at a certain point at the shamans direction, and they traveled along a well-overgrown old track that seemed to meander every which way. By Thal's frequent swearing and muttering to herself, it was obvious that the path was quite bumpy and rutted.

"Where are we going, troll?" Zalgash asked after about an hour on the road.

"I told'ja, ta go see an old friend," the shaman said, oddly cheerful.

"I am wary of your 'friends,' Jen. You know that. Is this one of your eccentric but not really dangerous friends, eccentric and accidentally dangerous, or just plain psychotic friends?"

"Eh, he be a bit...odd," Jen'Zin acceded. "I suppose ya jus' gotta meet 'im ta see. He be pretty laid-back, t'ough."

They continued on in silence for another half-hour before they stopped. They waited for a few minutes, and were met by a low whistle. Jen'Zin responded to it with a similar whistle, and they waited for a little bit longer. Eventually, a figure emerged from out of the brush to their left. A troll. Just what they needed, more trolls.

He was shorter than Jen'Zin, but was obviously older. He was dressed in overdone mail armor, and his bright purple, braided hair was touched with silver. He wore a pair of goggles that did not suit him, and one of his tusks was hacked off from the middle and capped in gold. He was grinning at Jen'Zin, and waved exuberantly to him.

"'Ey, it been a long time, mon! Ya don' come up ta visit me anymore, was t'inkin' dat'cha might'a taken offense ta somet'in'! Come, come, we get outta da middle o' nowhere and ya can introduce yo' friends!" The troll had a thick accent, and an odd, jerky way of moving that looked like he was constantly in the middle of a dance routine.

"Ya, no, no offense! I jus' been busy, ya know how it be sometimes." Jen'Zin motioned for the rest to follow and they trundled after the purple-haired troll.

The troll led them to an irregular little clearing in front of a cave. It would have been unremarkable, if it weren't for the fact that there was a dragon sleeping outside of it. Claryssa gaped at it. Its skin was a deep blue, marked in places with stripes of a vibrant white. What made it even more remarkable was that the membranes on its wings were almost transparent, and it had spikes that seemed to be made of crystal growing out of its head and back. She continued to stare at it, and the old troll noticed.

"He be an old, old friend o' mine, little girl," he explained. "'E was wit' me on many o' ma adventures. 'Is name be Xerethaku, a Net'ahwing drake from da Outland. 'E's a lazy bastard, t'ough, and shouldn' realleh give ya too much trouble."

The dragon grunted at this and shifted, obvious that he was ignoring what was going on around him. Claryssa shook her head.

"Anyways," Jen'Zin said, rather expansively to the group, "this old fart's name is Vilzek. He used ta be a pretty good huntah, but now he just be a washed-up ol' geezer."

"Now Jen," Vilzek said chidingly, "I bet dat I coul' still kick yo' ass in a fight. But dat be beside da point. Who yo' friends be, and what ya be needin' me for?"

There was a quick introduction of everyone in the group, and the old hunter nodded in acknowledgement of each. "What we need, t'ough, be a way to get t'rough da Stonetalon Mountains wit'out havin' ta fight ev'ry Venture Comp'ny asshat between here and dere."

"Aah," Vilzek said, and raised his finger. "I t'ink I got jus' da critter for ya." He disappeared into the mouth of the cave, and reappeared with the strangest creature Claryssa had every seen trailing at his heels.

It looked like a giant lizard, its lipless mouth making no apologies for its frightening teeth. It was pitch black, except for several electric blue stripes on its body, and had four spikes that rose off of its back. It looked up at its master adoringly, its eyes glowing and tail swishing.

"'Dis here be Azbek. He be a warpstalka. He be a pretty vicious little t'ing, and loves ta go munchin' on goblins. I be sure dat he be havin' no qualms 'bout scouting ahead for ya," the troll said in way of explanation of what he was. "I jus' gotta say, 'e be da offspring of ma favorite companions, Nix an' Nox, so ya be takin' real good care o' him! If he get hurt, I be carvin' 'is wort' to me outta yo' hide, Jen." He shook his finger at the shaman, who bowed.

"I be honored dat ya be trustin' me wit' so importan' a companion," the shaman said expansively. Vilzek rolled his eyes behind his goggles.

"I would offah for ya all ta stay for da night, but I be sure dat ya wan' ta get ta Stonetalon as fast as possible. I wish ya luck on ya adventure, ev'ryone."

He motioned for the lizard to follow the group, which hesitated for a moment, then darted after the departing group with a trumpeting hiss.

* * *

Claryssa found herself perplexed and intimidated by the new creature in their group. Its emotions were unreadable, as most reptiles were, and it seemed to hold itself aloof from everyone else except for Jen'Zin, who he was obviously familiar with. The doubly odd thing about Azbek was that, despite his formidable teeth, he ate fruit. It was strange, and he was strange, but she felt an overwhelming urge to want to know the weird lizard.

She had taken it upon herself to feed him, trying to coax him away from the shaman's side to eat an apple out of her hand. He cocked his head at her, and slowly inched forward. She took a moment to notice the wicked claws on his paws. It did not take long, though, for Azbek to warm up to her. After he was certain that she was not going to hurt him, the lizard followed her around like a little lost puppy, nuzzling at her hands for attention. It was strangely cute.

They set up camp next to the mountainside that night. They were about halfway to the Talondeep pass, and would probably reach it by the end of tomorrow, if not sooner. She sat in front of the fire, watching Gat cook dinner, who was avoiding her eyes. Azbek rested her head in her lap, clicking happily as she absently pet him. She watched the rogue work, uncertain what to make of him. It was obvious that he was trying not to get her upset like he had that morning, but she was thoroughly convinced that he did what he did just so he could see her throw a temper tantrum. He found her tantrums cute for some odd reason.

Nearby, Zalgash and Jen'Zin were once again bickering about the wagon. The Talondeep Pass was not really a very level tunnel, and rocks blocked up to half of the path at points. The shaman was trying to convince the orc to abandon the wagon, and each person carry as much as he could. Zalgash was absolutely against the idea, and stuck to the idea that it was worth the trouble to squeeze it through the Pass than to abandon it to the elements. Claryssa sighed at this, and looked around to see what everyone else was doing.

Thal was busy sharpening a wicked-looking dagger she had procured from...somewhere. The night elf was absorbed in her work, and actually looked approachable now that she didn't have a gloating smirk on her face. At least, as approachable as one can look with a hooked, serrated dagger in hand.

Gelt was busy looking over the provisions they had, trying to figure out how they would have to ration it out depending on how long their trip through the Stonetalon Mountains was. They would make their way to a tauren stronghold in the Mountains, and resupply there.

Bhazrael was sitting near a rock, an ink set out and a few rolls of parchment at his feet. He was painstakingly inscribing runes onto the sheets, more out of practice than any actual use, as he explained earlier. Claryssa watched him for a few moments, until the blood elf looked up and raised one of his eyebrows at her. She then smiled an apology and went back to watching dinner being made.

It was a strangely quiet night, but it was a welcome respite from the hectic week or so they had just had.

They knew that the trip through Stonetalon was likely to be frustrating, dangerous, and long.


	25. Capitalist Pigs

Adventure Loves Company, Too

Chapter 25: Capitalist Pigs

* * *

They were halfway through the Talondeep Pass. Every one of them was drenched in sweat and swearing ferociously, alternatively pulling and pushing on the wagon kodo to convince the stupid beast that he could fit through the small tunnel. The had to routinely push the cart over the larger ruts and rocks, and it was in all a very stressful experience for all.

Jen'Zin did not let a single opportunity pass by to tell Zalgash "I told'ja so."

They stopped to take a breather, the air siphoned by the tunnel quick and chill. After about five minutes, Claryssa began to shiver. Thal, too, was feeling rather cold.

"I don't think it's such a great idea to stop here, guys," the night elf said, her teeth starting to chatter. "The air is too cold, it's chilling us too quickly." Sure enough, the three smallest of the group were all in varying stages of early hypothermia. Bhazrael was livid, even though his lips were blue.

"This-s-s is-s-s-s a-a-bsolutely r-r-r-r-r-ridiculous-s-s-s!" he chattered, pulling his robes tighter around him. "Why is it s-s-so c-c-c-cold!" He grumbled and rubbed his arms. "Can we p-p-please go back to wr-restling with the stupid kodo?"

"Eh, dat's prolly a good idea," Jen'Zin agreed quickly, starting to get chilled himself. He shivered and stood up, grabbing a hold of Issa's harness. The raptor was not very pleased about being in a dark and cramped environment. The small floating lantern Bhazrael had made was not really enough light for her to be satisfied with, and she was prancing uneasily and being nippy. She turned to bite at Jen'Zin's arm, and he quickly swatted her nose and berated her in zandali.

The other mounts were in similar stages of anxiety, and they had to encourage them along as they wrestled with the wagon. Azbek was not faring very well, either. The warp stalker followed Claryssa's heel timidly, letting out little hisses and often trodding on the back of her heel, he was so close. Thankfully, though, pulling on them and exerting themselves warmed them up a little bit, and they progressed quickly along the tunnel.

"Oh gods," Bhazrael said after a while, pausing to feel the air, his eyes closed in ecstasy. "The air is getting warmer."

He was right, the air was getting much warmer, and smelling fresher. They all unconsciously moved faster, wanting to get out of the cold dark and into the warm sun again. They urged their mounts faster, and pushed at the cart urgently. Soon, the end of the tunnel ahead of them started getting lighter.

Razuli was the first to see this, and in an uncharacteristic fit, he broke free of Gat's grip, leaped over the wagon, and darted ahead towards the light. Issa ripped her harness from the shaman's grip, ripping his fingers in the process and sprinted after the other raptor. Jen'Zin swore at his mount, shaking his hand and dancing around from the pain. Zalgash didn't even try to hold back his mount, he let go as soon as Razuli launched past him, and the great black worg ran forward, his tongue lolling out and whining.

The wagon kodo lumbered ahead under his own steam, desperate to be out of the tunnel, and nearly running over Claryssa's foot with the wagon. She stared in horror at the quarter-inch of clearance between the rut left by the wheel and where her foot was. Bhazrael did not miss a beat, however. He quickly pulled himself onto his hawkstrider as it began to sprint ahead after the two raptors and wagon. He laughed as it jumped up onto the wagon, took two steps, jumped onto the kodo's back, and then jumped in front and ran into the light.

Claryssa watched him, rather surly, and jogged to keep up with the wagon as it trundled towards the increasing glow and warmth.

The exited the tunnel and were slightly blinded by the bright sun shining down from the clear blue sky. The rocks around them were red, making it feel like they were in a glowing oven, which only made Claryssa feel even more warm in the sudden light. The trees around them were tall redwoods, and the smell of the evergreen was overwhelming. It was fantastic.

The priestling staggered over to a patch of grass and collapsed in it, absorbing the warmth of the ground. She almost fell asleep, but she felt someone lift her up. She turned to see Gat, who grinned rather awkwardly.

"We leavin'," he said simply. Sure enough, the others were mounting up and starting to leave. She sighed and dusted herself off, then followed Gat back to the group. Unfortunately, Jen'Zin was already a goodly distance ahead, so Claryssa found herself lifted and plopped once again in front of the rogue. She sighed, trying very hard not to feel awkward about the whole thing.

She had to admit, though, that it only served to warm her up faster, which she was all for.

"Gat," she said after a while of them picking their way through the large trees.

"Hm?"

"You gave up and started speaking common really easily," she said. The troll grumbled.

"Jen said dat he'd ignore me if I spoke anyt'in' ot'er dan it," he said sourly. "He means it, too. So eit'ah way, I'd be forced ta speak it, so may as well do it." He sighed, looking around.

"Makes sense, I guess," Claryssa muttered, dubious. She leaned back against the troll, and also sighed.

They made good time through the trees, and heard the bubbling of a creek nearby. Zalgash had steered them that way, wanting to refill the water barrels. The sound quickly came closer, and they broke through the treeline.

The only thing that met their eyes was utter desolation.

All of the trees beyond that line were cut, leaving two-foot stumps scattered around the landscape. Discarded saw blades and mechanical parts littered the ground, and patches of oil glistened in the sunlight. The dirt rose into choking clouds behind them, and the sounds of whirring machinery could be heard off in the distance, accompanied by towers of oily black smoke.

They all stared at the destruction, shocked. They slowly picked their way across the dirt, moving closer to the sound of the water. They found the stream, but were absolutely disgusted by it. the surface of the water gleamed rainbow hues from the oil in it, and dead fish floated down the stream and rotted on the banks. Half-rusted oil drums floated here and there, as well, and it was all-in-all depressing.

Gelt seemed the most disappointed of them all. He was in a rage, urging his kodo up and down the river bank, staring into the swirling grease, and then looking at the destroyed landscape. He got off his mount and tied it to the back of the wagon. He then straightened himself, and suddenly took on the form of a bird and flew off towards the noise and smoke off in the distance.

They all sighed and urged their mounts towards the cliffs ahead, depressed. Soon, though, Gelt returned, landing on Issa's head. The raptor shrieked and snapped at the bird, which screeched back and instead went the Jen'Zin's knee. The two conversed for a little bit, and then Gelt flew back to his mount, returned to his normal shape, and untied his mount. Jen'Zin stopped, waiting for everyone else to catch up.

"Well, my wors' fears been confirmed," the shaman said, his arms crossed. "Dis be da work o' da Venture Company, and dey got deir headquartahs right in front o' da trail leadin' up past dis valley." He grumbled sourly. "Should'a jus' kept goin' west from da Crossroads," he muttered.

"I told you so, Jen," Zalgash said mildly, his expression unchanging. The shaman shot him a bitter look.

"Enyways," he continued, "we gotta be watchin' our step. Dere be no way dat dey won' notice us, and when dey do, we gotta be careful o' what we say. It not be uncommon ta find yerself in a lifetime contract wit' dem aftah only a few words." He grimaced. "Dey be wily little bastards, and dese goblins be wors' dan most."

"Sounds like you have firsthand knowledge," Thal said, a mocking grin breaking across her face.

"Yeh," he said, scratching his head. "I wound up backed inta a corner, and killed a goblin dat was tryin' ta get me inta deir service. I try ta avoid da Venture Company whevah I can."

They continued then, warily watching the smoke rising off in the distance. It took them perhaps an hour to reach the foothills, and were perhaps ten minutes from the path that led up into the mountains, when a loud clatter sounded off to their right. Screeching in protest, a mechanical shredder made its way into their path, faced them, and stopped. About a dozen goblins followed it, with four ogres and a handful of trolls and gnolls behind them. The lined up, barring their path and glaring greedily at them.

The group stopped, eying the blockade warily. Jen'Zin and Gat growled low in their throats, sending glances back and forth between them. Thal loosened her daggers in their sheaths at her waist, and Bhazrael glared right back at the ragtag group of ruffians. One of the goblins stepped forward. Azbek hissed low and his tail swished threateningly, but he didn't do anything beyond that.

"Greetings, friends," he said, his voice gloating and dripping with heartless amusement, "where on earth would we be going so quickly without stopping to enjoy the day?"

Jen'Zin forced himself into a decent composure, and urged Issa forward casually. "Oh, we be goin' ta go visit mah grandma, mon!" He laughed airily, sounding for all the world like a moron. Claryssa facepalmed.

"_We're all doomed,_" she mourned silently.

The goblin's eyes narrowed, surveying the party. "Quite the strange company you keep, I must say." His eyes ultimately fell on Bhazrael, who had pulled up his hood and was glaring at the creature with blazing eyes from under it. Zarghoon was standing at his master's side, his presence intimidating. The demon hefted his giant axe onto his shoulder almost nonchalantly, but leveled a similar glare at the goblin, who didn't flinch.

"Yeh, well, dey be ol' friends o' mine from mah youngah days, and we was goin' ta go up ta see 'er fer 'er sixtiet' birt'day. Y'know, sixty be a real old age fer a troll, so I wanted ta make dis one special for 'er, and-"

"Yes, yes," the goblin said irately, waving the rambling troll off. "I think your grandmother is going to have to be disappointed this year. You see, we're short on hands. I don't really feel like trying to rope you all into it, as it is long and time-consuming, and that elf over there is starting to severely piss me off." He continued to return Bhazrael's glare, the goblin's temper obviously getting the better of him. His cronies lifted their weapons eagerly. Bhazrael lowered his head and started muttering something under his breath.

"Oh, mon, I don' t'ink ya be want'in' ta do dat," Jen'Zin said to the creature, a look of feigned concern over his face. "I don' t'ink dat it be da best decision fer yo' health."

"My health is the least of my worries," the goblin said. He turned and waved a hand. "Go get our newest conscripts, boys. Make sure that you don't damage them _too_ much!"

A small roar shot up from the group of Venture Company thugs and they charged forward.

Bhazrael brought his arm up and pointed to the sky in a sharp gesture, letting out a sharp word. Zarghoon prudently stepped backwards. The group hesitated at the gesture, looking up to the sky.

That was probably their fatal mistake.

From the sky, a small green dot materialized. As they watched, they saw it was a meteor, bathed in green fire, plummeting towards the ground with incredible speed. Several of the trolls tried their best to run away, but they didn't run quite fast enough.

The impact of the infernal was overwhelming and deafening. Claryssa felt herself pushed back against Gat from the oppressive wave of heat and air that was generated when it hit the ground, and their mounts stumbled. The giant demon unfolded itself from its meteor form, and gazed down malevolently at the small band of brigands that were trying to pick themselves up and clear their heads of the ringing. Claryssa was sure that if it could smile, its grin would split its head right off. It lifted one giant rock arm, paused, and then brought it down directly on the head of one of the ogres with a sickening crunch. It then grabbed the body of its victim, lifted it, and threw it at one of the gnolls that was desperately trying to escape. The ogre hit the smaller creature with a resounding crack.

The goblin in charge turned sharply, and his face went from shock, to dismay, to chagrin, to fully-fledged anger.

"You little faggot!" the goblin screeched. He raised lifted his arms and began to perform an obscene ritual. Next to him, there was a brief flicker of movement of something tall and thin, but it was so fast that Claryssa was unsure if she had seen it at all. Bhazrael, on the other hand, sat up straight in his saddle, intently scanning the area around them.

"Claryssa," he said sharply, not looking at her. "Shield me. Don't ask why, just do it."

Claryssa was a bit taken-aback at the sudden request, but did it anyways as he hopped off of his mount. A few seconds passed, in which the infernal continued to massacre the goblin's group of henchmen. The goblin's face had broken out in a grin, and he watched the warlock. Zalgash watched the warlock move slowly in front of the group, looking around him the whole time.

"Bhazrael, what is it-" The orc was suddenly broken off by a tall, bat-winged woman materializing behind him with a laugh of triumph. She lifted a large, spike-encrusted whip with a sadistic grin on her face. Claryssa reacted almost not fast enough, and the whip screeched against the suddenly solid shell of light that appeared around the orc. Zalgash looked stunned for an instant, but then reacted as fast as the succubus had appeared. With a roar, he pulled up his axe, leaped off of Grel, and slammed the weapon down with the intent of cleaving the demoness in two. She dodged it easily, but unfortunately for her, she found her positioning within the group could not have been worse. She had backed up within arm's reach of Gat.

Casually, as though he did it every day, the rogue took up one of his daggers and drove it into the top of the succubus' skull with a sickening crunch. She twitched and vanished. The goblin warlock did not waste a second. He was already performing another ritual, his hands writhing and his mouth moving. Bhazrael was having none of it.

He twitched his head, and Zarghoon intercepted the small warlock in a second. The goblin was flung several yards forward from the impact, and the felguard continued to advance, lifting his axe up. The goblin turned, horror on his face.

"Wait! Wait! We can talk about this, we can strike a deal, we can-!" His pleading was cut off by the demon placidly swinging the great axe forward, letting gravity carry it down onto the cowardly goblin.

There was silence for a little while, only punctuated by the screams of the two or three remaining thugs as the were gleefully murdered by the other demon. Bhazrael dusted off his robes and sauntered back over to his mount, lifting himself back into the saddle. Zalgash followed suit, except without the sauntering and robe-dusting. Gat inspected the edge of his dagger with his thumb, and Jen'Zin looked at the split corpse of the goblin in front of them. He coughed.

"Well, I suppose dat we should be headin' out. Dat infernal will be attractin' a lot o' attention, and even if he doesn', den dis guy not reportin' in will be a bit suspicious. I'd rat'er not be here when dey find what 'is fate was," the shaman pressed his heels into Issa, urging her forward. He jerked sharply on her reigns and berated her when she bent her head down to sniff at the dead goblin. "No, Issa! Dat's dirty. Ya don' wanna be eatin' dat, it'll give ya indigestion. Don' really wanna be smellin' half-digested warlock fer da next eight hours."

The raptor chirped irritably, but continued on her way. The others followed after, and Claryssa made sure to avert her gaze from the dead goblin. Zarghoon was wiping off the blade of his great axe with a rough cloth as they walked, which he discarded by throwing over his shoulder, onto the face of his victim.

Once again, Claryssa found herself being severely disillusioned as to the core natures of those around her. She was suddenly very happy to have them as albeit reluctant allies than as enemies.


	26. Ash, Salt, and Noblegarden Hospitality

Adventure Loves Company, Too

Chapter 26: Ash, Salt, and Noblegarden Hospitality

A/N: Happy Easter everyone! I know it's been quite a while, but I haven't forgotten you guys. I have finally figured out where I'm going to lead, and with Mists of Pandaria coming out soon, I figure I should stop dawdling in the pre-Cata world. Especially since I am slowly forgetting what it looked like. :P Anyways, the next few chapters will lead up to that. And I get the feeling that Noblegarden would probably not exist, but I figure it's a cute little thing I can do considering it is Noblegarden at the time I am writing this.  
Also, I'm not putting as much effort into Jen's and Gat's accents. By this point, you should have a pretty good idea of how they're speaking, and ya can be omittin' sounds in yo head as ya be deemin' necessary, mon.

* * *

They had journeyed through Stonetalon with very little excitement after the run-in with the Venture Company. With Noblegarden being celebrated throughout Azeroth, they had stopped momentarily at the Tauren encampment of Sun Rock Retreat to make use of a shortcut through the pass to the Charred Vale. They did not have any disguises as they had used previously, as Gelt encouraged the rest of the group that Tauren would not make as big a deal out of Claryssa and Thal as the other races of the Horde would, especially during a holiday. They had stayed for a night in the inn and the insistence of the Tauren that lived there, and had left burdened with treats.

Claryssa sat once again between Gat's legs. She had discovered a new favorite treat in the bags they were given: soft little chocolate balls covered with colored, hardened melted sugar that formed a thin crust. She popped them into her mouth greedily, relishing the popping sensation they gave when she bit into them. Gat had wordlessly handed her his share, a slight smile on her face at her obvious enjoyment of them. The priestling lounged against the troll, her legs folded in front of her. The rest of the group was in similar high spirits; the one night they had stayed in real beds had really lifted their spirits.

They needed those high spirits as the small pass was not a very pleasant ride. There were frequent ruts and rocks in the road that they had to dismount and push the cart over, and there were a couple of hair-raising moments where they thought the wagon wouldn't fit through the walls of the pass. They had made it so far without too much incident, and they inched closer to the Vale.

Claryssa continued munching on her candy. "Gat," she asked between mouthfuls, "do you have any idea where we're going?" She swallowed and appended her question quickly when the troll gave her a quizzical look. "I mean, I know we're going to Desolace, but why? Where are we going in Desolace? Why are we going there?"

"Well," Gat replied, running a hand over his hair, "I realleh don' know. Jen's always had a mind o' 'is own, and don' realleh tell people what he be plottin' 'til it's already happenin'." The rogue shrugged and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He sighed and settled down in his saddle more. "I don' even know what's goin' on. I wasn' realleh ev'n expectin' him to come t'rough Strangethorn, it just be chance dat I ran into ya."

They rounded a corner, and the ridge blocking their view of the vale melted away. Acres upon acres of desolate forest filled the valley below them. If it could be called a forest. What were once grand trees were nothing more than burnt matchsticks, scraping the sky with their few spindly branches reaching upwards in supplication. The ground was scorched black, and a slight wind whistled through the husk of the forest, blowing ashes along. It was a depressing scene, and Claryssa stopped eating and gazed at the landscape, feeling her spirits start to drop.

They paused momentarily, looking out over the destruction. It was actually Bhazrael who suggested they keep moving, claiming that he didn't want to give the wind an opportunity to get ashes in his hair. They moved along quickly, but knew that it wasn't really out of worry for his hair that urged him to speak up. There was something depressing, disgusting about the Charred Vale, and their high spirits were sinking fast.

They were out of the Vale in less than an hour, with nothing happening. Gelt in particular voiced his relief at that. He went on to describe the harpies that lived in the area, and went into particular detail about some of the corpses that had been found in the past after the feathered residents had their way with them.

"Gelt, please," Bhazrael said with a pained voice, "shut up. We get it."

"I'm just saying, we are lucky we didn't run into any of them. Why, two years ago, an orc who thought too highly of himself was surrounded. We found his entrails-"

"Gelt!" the elf's voice was pleading at this point. "You don't have to go into detail. We get it!"

"Okay, okay." The druid muttered to himself, but didn't say anything past that as the group made its way into Desolace.

Once again, Claryssa found herself astonished at how quickly the environment changed. The scorched but still red-brown earth of the Redridge Mountains quickly paled to the dusty, gray-white color of the salt flats of Desolace. Fits and spurts of wind whipped up a stinging dust that drove into their faces without remorse, Claryssa had abandoned her candy to hide her face in the crook of Gat's arm to keep the grit out of her eyes.

They traveled for a good three or four more hours, rationing their water carefully.

"Dere be nowhere ta get any fresh water 'round here," Jen'Zin said, pulling dishing out some water for the mounts. "It all be salty or stagnant. Only get water when ya really need it. We'll be travelin' extra hard fer da next few days ta try to get ta Shadowprey Village before our water runs out."

"That's on the other side of Desolace," Thal objected. "We'll never make it before that happens."

"Eh, dere be one or two small fresh water springs here or dere on da way down, but dey all be down much farther sout'." He scratched at his cheek. "Dere is a camp along da way, but it sorta be outta da way from where we headed, an' da only way ta get back on track is ta go off da path, and da terrain and critters 'round here can be pretty unforgivin'."

They made camp that night quickly, the wind whipping up around them almost faster than they could stake down the tents. They set up the extra tents the had purchased in Sun Rock Retreat, as sleeping outside as the majority of the party had done would have been impossible with the wind at night.

"It gets really windy," Bhazrael said, offhandedly. "I came down here a few years ago to check out the demonic activity near the Mannoroc Coven, I practically had to dig a trench to keep the salt and dirt out of my tent at night." He then corrected a placement of one of the tents, insisting the flaps had to be on the leeward side of the wind, not sideways.

"I don't really see the difference, elf," Gelt replied, not wanting to re-stake the supports of his tent.

"It makes a big difference. otherwise your tent will get all filled with sand. See, it can still get in on this side." As a demonstration, he lifted up a fistful of salty earth and let it go slowly, letting the wind catch it. Sure enough, it spiraled into Gelt's tent, forming a nice little loose layer over his blankets. The druid shot him an ugly look and took the canvas off the top and yanked up the supports.

They had a quick dinner of cold ham and bread before retiring to their tents before the stinging wind became overwhelming. Thal had gone to Bhazrael's tent, with the excuse that "He's more of a girl than the priest is," and Gat almost too happily took her place in Claryssa's tent. There wasn't much risk of any intruders, as the wind was working up to be a major dust storm, and as Jen'Zin said, even the centaurs would be stupid to go out in that weather.

Claryssa wiggled into her blankets as Gat tied closed the flaps on their tent, staking them down firmly inside the tent to prevent any dust from getting in. He then sighed and laid down next to her, his knees up to try to fit in the slightly-too-small tent. He looked a little bit uncomfortable, and Claryssa giggled. He sniffed, but didn't say anything.

The wind steadily picked up over the course of the next hour, and Claryssa was literally one second from falling asleep when it really broke loose and started screaming across the flats, the canvas of the tent drumming against its supports. She jumped and was suddenly wide awake, her eyes darting around the dark tent. Her heart beat quickly from the shock, but started slowing as she listened to the strange song the beating of the tent and howling of the wind seemed to make. Her eyes darted around in the dark, trying to see something in the blackness.

"Gat, you still awake?" she whispered. As soon as she said it, she felt silly. She could barely hear herself think over the racket outside, it was unlikely that he had heard her whisper. She was about to ask again louder, when she felt him shift and his arm went across her and he rather roughly pulled her closer.

"Yeh, can't sleep." He held her tightly, tighter than she would normally be comfortable with. She was about to complain when she felt him flinch at a particularly savage roar outside, and sighed. A rather interesting fault for him to have, being afraid of the wind. She found herself wondering if he was afraid of thunder, as well. She shifted slightly to get a little bit more comfortable, only to have him wrap both arms around her tightly. She squeaked slightly, and she felt him chuckle. She sighed again.

"You're lucky I like you, otherwise I wouldn't tolerate this," she muttered as she settled down, resigned to her fate. The troll gave a low rumbling hum of happiness.

The wind continued to shriek and tear at the tent for the rest of the night.


	27. Escalation

Adventure Loves Company, Too

Chapter 27: Escalation

A/N: Just a small little reminder for people to review more. I love reviews, I love (constructive!) criticism, I love input. Don't be afraid to tell me what you think, yo. Also, longest chapter yet? Either way, time to go relabel this as a romance. Definitely now a romance. Maybe.

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The group was two days into their trek across Desolace. Each night had been just as bad as the first, with wind howling insanely across the flats and battering their tents. The days were somewhat bearable. It was not especially hot, but it was very arid. Wind blew salt dust up their noses and into open mouths, causing thirst and a couple of bloody noses. The group carefully rationed out the water, but the barrels were quickly emptying. They were down to two barrels of water, and all of them were worrying when one of Jen'Zin's wells would come up. They had cloth wrapped around their heads to ward away some of the dust, and even the mounts had allowed a similar headgear that draped over their snouts to keep out the worst.

Zalgash was particularly worried about his mount, considering Grel's only method of body temperature moderation was through his mouth. They had given Grel more water than the other mounts to try to keep up with his panting, but it had gotten to the point that the orc refused to ride his worg anymore and was riding in the cart with Thal. Surprisingly, Issa seemed to sense their urgency and didn't throw any fits and stuck to their pace. She shifted uncomfortably every now and then and chattered irately once in a while, but did nothing else.

The sky was surprisingly overcast on this day, and foreboding clouds roiled in from across the ocean. It didn't smell like rain, but a chill wind whipped across the flats and dust devils rose around them and died as quickly as they were born. Claryssa huddled back against Gat, who had one arm around her waist. Azbek, the warp stalker that had followed them silently with practically no input was suddenly antsy and nervous. He frequently phased in and out of visibility, scouting ahead of the group. Jen'Zin watched the lizard's progress warily.

"I don' like dis," the shaman said as they made their way around a large bend in the road. "Azbek's been real placid so far, so dere been no reason ta worry. Now he's bein' nervous, and it be makin' me worry."

"Maybe he's just chasing dust devils," Thal said blandly.

"Nah, warp stalkers be smarter dan dat," the shaman said. He swore in zandali and spat on the ground. "Somet'in' bad is gonna happen. I can feel it." He looked over at Gat, and said something to him in their twinnish language. The rogue nodded and wrapped his other arm around her. Claryssa raised her eyebrow at Jen, who said nothing and went back to watching Azbek.

They continued warily, watching the desolate wastes around them. The stopped for an hour or so towards the middle of the day as the came across a small freshwater spring and slowly refilled their barrels and rinsed themselves off. Claryssa sat by the cart, staring at the gloomy horizon, a chill running up her spine. She felt a strange sense of dread forming at the base of her skull, nagging at her that something was going to happen. Perhaps she was just mirroring Jen'Zin's worry, and tried to convince herself that was all that was bothering her.

She was suddenly enveloped by a silver-blue blob, squeezing her tightly. She squeaked with surprise but quickly realized that the shaman had snuck up behind her and was giving her a playful bear hug. She shuddered slightly as his tusks pressed into her neck and pushed his head away.

"We nevah get ta talk anymooore," he whined. He crossed his legs and sat, pulling her into his lap. "Ya be makin' me jealous o' Gat, and I ain' nevah been jealous o' him before." He continued the whiny little kid voice, and Claryssa found herself laughing in spite of herself.

"Why would you be jealous?" Claryssa giggled, poking his cheek playfully.

"Well, ya always hangin' 'round him, we nevah get to talk," he let out a whine that was reminiscent of a hurt puppy into her neck. "I miss talkin' to yaaaaa."

She settled into his lap, happy for the extra warmth. "Well, we're here now, so talk?"

"Well, how ya been enjoyin' da trip so far?" he asked with a rather humorous tone. "Has da amenities suited ya well?"

"Oh, yes," she agreed, her tone equally facetious. "The sunburn has been mild, the ground hasn't been quite that hard, and the stale food has been delicious. I don't know what to do with myself, I have so much to do!" She grinned at him, and he mirrored her expression.

"You two done flirtin'?"

They both looked up to see Gat squatting on the edge of the cart, looking at the two of them with an expression somewhere between amusement and scrutiny. They both gave him the same grin, to which he rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, de others be talkin' 'bout settin' up camp early here, givin' da animals a chance ta get rested properly," the rogue leaned back and scratched under his collar, swearing slightly as he tried to get rid of some sand causing irritation. "Wanted ta run it by you, see if it interferes wit' any plans."

Jen'Zin thought about it, resting his cheek against Claryssa's head. "I t'ink dat will work out fine, if we kept movin' we'd be too close to da Coven fer me to sleep right. Go ahead an set up camp. Oh, and Gat," he reached out and tapped his brother's knee to get his attention back, and proceeded to talk to him in twinnish. Gat seemed a bit agitated about what he was being told, but then nodded after thinking about it. The rogue hopped off the cart and made his way back to the group.

"What was that about?" Claryssa asked.

"I want ya to sleep wit' me tonight," Jen replied.

"Oh really?" she asked with a sly look. He laughed in response.

"'S not like dat, honest! I jus' wanna make sure ya be safe. I got dis feelin' in my chest like somet'in' bad is gonna happen tonight, I want ya where I can see ya."

"If you say so," she said, shrugging.

"I do say so!" The shaman redoubled his grip on her, and rubbed his cheek against hers. She could feel that he had not shaved in a few days, and his whiskers bit into her skin. She squeaked and laughed, and tried to push him away.

"Stop it, you're acting like my dad," she complained. He laughed and gave her one final squeeze before getting up.

"Come on, da least we can do is try to have a hot dinner."

A hot dinner proved to be harder than they thought. They had to set up a makeshift screen around the campfire to keep the worst of the dirt and salt from getting into the pot, and still their dinner turned out a little bit gritty. They had stretched the screen to a flat wall, and they all sat with their backs to it, facing the fire. Claryssa was sitting between the two trolls, and found herself feeling rather awkward, as they both had one of their arms around her rather possessively.

"So, Jen," Zalgash said, speaking up for the first time in days, "how much longer until we reach Shadowprey Village?"

"Two days, at da mos'," the troll replied. "Tomorrah we'll be passin' by da Coven, so we gotta be extra alert. We don' know if dey got anyt'in' dey be wantin' test subjects fer."

"I would say they shouldn't give too much of a fuss, but it has been two years and change since I've been there," Bhazrael said, brushing his hair. Surprisingly, he wasn't throwing that much of a fit about the sand in his hair. Claryssa figured that he figured that there were others who had it worse. Namely Gelt, who hadn't stopped scratching since they came to Desolace, as the sand sat close to his skin and irritated it on a much larger scale.

"You were at Mannoroc Coven?" Thal asked, raising a long eyebrow.

"Didn't I mention that a couple of days ago?" the warlock replied with an irritated tone. "I like going and finding other warlocks, seeing their abilities and, well," he shrugged, "taking them. When I was here before there really wasn't anything interesting going on, just a bunch of second-rate warlocks worshiping their minions more than controlling them. It's a little bit disgusting when someone allows himself to become a conduit to this world for the demons to use." He thought about that for a second. "No offense, Zar."

The big felguard was sitting opposite them, ignoring the stinging wind. He nodded and waved his hand. "No offense taken," he replied. "If we had the chance, the Legion would overrun this planet in a heartbeat." He started slightly as the calico kitten he kept hidden somewhere in his armor jumped out and dashed to the group, curling up in Claryssa's lap happily. He was much bigger than she remembered, and had gotten out of the awkward, big-pawed and wobbly-headed kitten stage and was starting to get into the long-legged, awkward and gangly kitten stage. He purred and rubbed against her knees happily, kneading into her thighs. The Zarghoon laughed, a rather chilling sound.

"He really seems to like you," he noted. "He isn't as friendly to anyone else."

"I don't mind," Claryssa responded, scratching the kitten's ears. The little animal stretched upwards into her hand in ecstasy.

They sat against the sheet for another hour or so, relishing the opportunity to rest and chat with one another. Surprisingly, no arguments started up, which unnerved Claryssa more than it comforted her. She made a note of this quietly to Jen'Zin, who grunted in agreement.

"It's a full moon, you know," Zalgash whispered around the shaman, having overheard her. "People are crazy right now."

They soon set to setting up their tents for the night, once again being sure to set the flaps away from the wind. At the insistence of Jen'Zin, they made somewhat of a parade of the whole affair, often going in and out of different tents, but making sure that they all settled into the same tents that they had for the past few days, except for Claryssa, whom the shaman had smuggled into his tent as the sun sank below the horizon and the wind started to whip up around them.

"Why are you being so careful about all this?" Claryssa asked the troll after a while. She was settled with her back against his chest, and his arm was comfortably resting on her hip.

"I don' know," he confessed after a few moments of silence. "I jus' really feel uneasy."

"So it's not just because you want to sleep with me so badly?" She nudged him in his chest playfully. He chuckled.

"Yes, but no. Dat's not da reason. I jus' don' feel right."

They laid in silence for a while, listening to the wind howling around them, working itself up to its peak.

"So is Gat afraid of the weather?" she asked after a while.

"Not realleh. Certain t'ings unnerve 'im, though."

"Such as? The wind?"

Jen'Zin grunted. "He doesn' deal wit' howlin' wind like dis easy. I dunno why. He loves listenin' to thundah and da rain, but he don' like wind. He's weird." He shrugged.

The wind gave a particularly vicious shriek.

"Oh, and one othah thing," Jen'Zin said, his voice becoming more serious. "Gat be a much bettah troll dan I am. Don' let him bully you."

"Bully me?" she asked. She rolled over to look at him, forgetting it was too dark to see anything anyway. The troll nodded.

"He prob'ly won' since he likes ya so much, but dere is still dat chance. If he wants somet'in' and doesn't feel it'll be given to him, he'll take it if he can."

As she thought about that, the shaman tried to downplay his warning. "Of course he mos' likely won', I would be very surprised if he did anyt'in' extreme. He's jus' a very different person dan I am."

Semi-silence fell again, and they soon started to feel themselves drift off to sleep. Claryssa felt herself on the verge of falling into deep sleep when she was suddenly jarred awake by a loud crack.

Both her and Jen'Zin sat bolt upright, looking around in the dark. The shaman put an arm around her waist more as a protective gesture than anything else, his body rigid and alert. She felt a slight twinge of irritation; she found herself wishing people didn't feel that she was so weak that she needed to be defended. She felt sort of silly as soon as she thought that, and leaned against the troll's chest. She could feel a low growl emanating from him. A couple of seconds passed, and they were about to relax when a scratching sound came from the flaps of their tent, as someone tried feverishly to undo the ties that held it closed.

Jen'Zin coiled slightly, preparing to attack whoever it was if it was an enemy. The flaps came undone and and a large hand reached in to uproot the stakes holding the flaps down, and a harsh whisper followed it. Claryssa felt the tension in the shaman melt as the voice was recognized.

"Gat, what ya be doin'? What was dat sound?" the troll asked of the rogue as his brother practically tumbled into the tent. Jen'Zin slid to the side to redo the ties and stakes as Gat groped around in the darkness, until he found the human and drew her into a tight embrace.

"I don' even know," he muttered, burying his face into her neck. He was shaking a bit, she figured that whatever that sound was, it took him by surprise as much as it did her and Jen'Zin.

"What happened?"

"Well," Gat loosened his grip on the girl and scooted around to make room for the now three of them in the small tent, "I was sleepin' right? Den all of a sudden, dat lizard rips t'rough my tent, and bites me. He got me real good, too." Claryssa rubbed down his arm trying to find a bite, and troll redirected her hand to his leg. It was sticky with blood, and she could feel the divots where Azbek's teeth had sunk into the flesh. She pulled a blanket over his leg to stifle the light as she slowly healed up the wound. It still seemed shockingly bright through the fibers of the blanket. "He ran off back to da cart, an' naturally I chased after him." Gat gave a wry grin. "'S lucky I did, otherwise I'da ended up ashes. As I left da tent to kill da little bastard, da tent exploded." He made an expanding gesture with both hands and punctuated it with a soft _boom_ sound.

"Exploded?" Jen'Zin repeated, his tone incredulous.

"Yeh, mon," Gat replied, running a hand over his hair and pulling out the thong that held his hair in place. "Dere was a flash o' green fire, and dat huge crackin' sound, and da tent was gone. Or, most of it was, da rest was burnin' green." He shuddered slightly and wrapped his arms around Claryssa again. "Yo' hunches were right, again. 'S a good t'ing ya kept da priestling in yo' tent, she might not'a made it."

Jen'Zin thought on what his brother said for a few minutes. "Did ya see anyone? Anyone dat might'a done it?"

Gat was silent for a few moments as he thought. "No," he said slowly. "I didn' see anyone, but I did hear what sounded like hooves runnin' away after it happened."

The shaman nodded, seemingly satisfied with that answer. "Den whoever did it is gone now. We'd best be gettin' some sleep."

There was a bit of shoving and accidental poking for a bit as the three of them tried to get comfortable. Finally, Claryssa was settled between the two of them, who wrapped their arms loosely around her. She would have been fine with that, but they both decided to slide their tusks around her neck, resting their noses against her jaw. She knew they were doing it on purpose, it was the only logical explanation for it. She could feel them grinning, or at least thought she could. She tried her best to relax, but found herself quite excited from the proximity of both of them, and she couldn't seem to get her heart to slow down. Slowly, she started getting used to it, and after a while she felt their breathing make that subtle shift that announced they were asleep. She sighed and tried to find a more comfortable position, experimenting to see how far she could tilt them to get out of the ivory prison her neck was locked in.

Gat growled slightly as she shifted a quarter of an inch too far. "_Well, I thought they were asleep_," she thought miserably. The troll tightened his arms around her.

"Where do ya t'ink yer goin'?" he whispered. His voice was low, harsh and oddly thrilling. Claryssa felt her pace quicken again against her will.

"_Goddamnit,_" she cursed herself, wiggling slightly against him. She felt more than heard him chuckle. He shifted slightly, and felt him plant a warm, slow kiss on her neck. Her body's reaction it it was instantaneous, and she felt a blush creep across her face and neck, starting where his lips had touched her. Her chest ached from where her heart was pounding against it. She cursed herself again for wanting more. The both froze momentarily as Jen'Zin rolled over in his sleep, facing away from them. She wasn't quite sure if he was awake or not.

"Knock it off," she muttered, her face feeling like it was on fire. She heard him laugh this time, a deep, slow sound that did little to comfort her.

"I like ya," he whispered. "I like ya a lot. Jus' wanted ya to know."

"I couldn't tell," she retorted. Probably a little more irately than she meant, but he didn't seem to take offense. This was definitely a side to the rogue that she was not used to. She remembered what Jen'Zin had said about him taking what he wanted and started to feel the first flutterings of panic in her stomach. Gat seemed to catch on to this, and he purred softly into her neck.

"I'm not gonna do anyt'in' to hurt ya," he said, bringing his hand up to rub her cheek lightly. "I don' want ya to be afraid of me." His tone became slightly worried, and the feeling of panic coalesced into a heavy sludge of guilt. He had plenty of opportunities to hurt her over the past few days, considering he could have done whatever he wished and no one would have heard her over the roaring of the wind.

"Why are you being so forward all of a sudden?" She was asking more out of a need to take her mind off of it all, to stop thinking about how close he was, the feeling of his breath on his shoulder, his pulse against her arm...

"Yeh, jus' feelin' like I should tell ya," he said, cutting her thoughts off. "I dunno why, I jus' get da feelin' I should tell ya now." He shrugged. There was a bit of a pause. "Ya don' gotta tell me how ya feel 'bout me," he said, sounding uncertain for once. "I'm not tryin' ta make ya feel unco-"

"I like you, too," she said, cutting him off. She definitely liked him better when he was being confident. His lapse in certainty sort of dulled the excitement she had been feeling, but she was a bit thankful for it. She was sure she'd pass out if her heart kept going at the pace it had been. Unfortunately, the troll managed to restart the whole thing by emitting a low pleasurable growl. He pushed her chin lightly towards him and kissed her softly.

It was positively electrifiying. She could swear that she saw spots swim across her vision in the darkness of the tent. She felt like she was underwater, the screaming wind outside diminished to a hollow, distant roar. Her mind raced as different parts of her tried to voice their opinions all at once. The sensible part of her told her that it was a huge mistake, she should put an end to this, he's a troll you silly girl! The emotional part of her tried to reason with him being the nicest guy she'd ever met, he was so sweet, he smelled really good and was good looking, especially for a troll. A deeper, more primal part of her didn't speak, it just made her whole body ache in longing. She didn't feel him lean backwards to free her neck from his tusks, and didn't feel him roll onto his back and pull her on top of him until she already was on him. He growled low in his throat, more like a purr that comforted her and silenced her inner turmoil.

She sighed and relaxed as he slowly rubbed her back. Maybe she was worrying too much. She mentally shook herself and told her to just enjoy it. She yawned and let herself drift off to sleep.


	28. Worry, Fear, and Uncertainty

Adventure Loves Company, Too

Chapter 28: Worry, Fear, and Uncertainty

A/N: I think that it is obvious how my writing has evolved, since I've written longer chapters than previously. I may go back and append chapters, but not today, or maybe even not this month. Maybe when I feel up to it, and who knows when that would be. Anyways, this is now the longest chapter I've written. Go me!  
And of course Gat washed his hands before handling food you silly people. He's not disgusting.

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Jen'Zin woke up early the next morning. He had not slept well, both from worry and the continued sense of unease from the previous day. He stretched a bit before finally succumbing to the early rumblings of hunger. He sat up and looked over to where his brother was holding onto Claryssa as he slept, her halfway on him and looking quite content. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He couldn't help but feel a bit jealous and sad over it, but he shook his carefully undid the ties and stakes holding the flaps of the tent tightly closed and crawled outside.

He kicked away the buildup of sand and salt at the base of the tent. It was only natural that the debris would fill up at the leeward side of the tents, but it was still irritating every morning to wake up to a sand dune outside of the tents. He turned and retied the flaps, allowing the two inside more time to sleep. Their interaction the previous night kept running through his head, and the unease inside of him increased. He sighed again, and passed in front of the remnants of Gat's tent.

There was nothing left standing of the tent. The two support sticks at the front and back were lying on the dirt, mostly burnt. He squatted and picked one of the sticks out of the sand. They were facing away from the inside of the tent, as though incredible force had blown them outwards. He touched the burn marks on the wood pensively. He looked down and brushed away some of the sand that had blown in over the course of the night.

The hardened earth was scorched. The shaman chewed his lip and leaned forward, continuing to wipe dirt off the hard surface. His efforts soon revealed a blackened ring, exploding outward as though it were touched by massive heat. However, the inside of the ring was completely untouched. He sat back on his heels and studied the anomaly. If it were an explosion, the whole circle of earth would be scorched. However, the ring of untouched dirt left him confused. He pondered this for a while, and didn't notice Bhazrael get up until the warlock was right next to him, pondering the ring of blackened earth beside him.

"Holy shit, mon," Jen'Zin hissed. "You scared da crap outta me. When'd you get up?"

"Just a few minutes ago," the elf replied. He had not yet gone through his morning ritual, and he looked strange with his hair askew and whiskers obvious on his face. "What happened here?"

"I dunno, Gat said his tent exploded last night," the shaman replied. He scratched his head and touched the burn mark again. "It don' feel like normal fire," he mused, more to himself than to the elf.

"Strange for an explosion to only impact a certain part," Bhazrael said. He knelt down and touched the ring, his eyes glowing briefly. "It feels like fel magics, but I can't quite place it." He withdrew his hand and studied the burn marks.

"Yeh, Gat said dat he heard hooves runnin' away aftah dis happened." Jen'Zin crossed his legs and sat down, trying to put his mind on what disturbed him about the ring. "It be weird fer an explosion ta not scorch the whole area...right?"

"I would imagine so," Bhazrael replied. The elf stood up and brushed himself off. "Either way, someone was supposed to die last night from the look of this. If we are seen and we are all intact, there will be another attempt. From the feel of it, it is the work of a warlock. If we get past the Mannoroc Coven as quickly as possible, we may be able to avoid any conflicts and get out of their reach." He ran a hand through his hair, wincing as he caught a snarl and reaching his other hand to work it out of his hair. "At least, I hope. I don't know what possible spell this could be from. It could be something new, and I don't really want to find out at this moment. There are too many people in the group, and if more than one warlock in the Coven knows this spell, it could be disastrous."

"Thinkin' of othah's well-bein'?" Jen'Zin questioned with a raised eyebrow and a grin. "How very un-warlocky."

The elf gave a florid bow. "Your bright leadership has shown me the error of my ways, and I wish to redeem myself," he announced, his voice heavy with sarcasm. He straightened up and thought for a moment. "I've been a bit complacent. I shouldn't have gone to sleep last night this close to danger without a precaution. It may have prevented this from happening." He began a summoning ritual. The shaman backed away prudently. A flash of foul light and a felhunter materialized by Bhazrael. Jen'Zin cringed.

He had a strong natural dislike of demons, but he hated felhunters in particular. Their half-rotted skins barely containing black tendons and muscle, the cruel spikes rising off of their shoulders, the whipping antennae, the lack of eyes...The shaman shuddered and looked away for an instant. There was something that unnerved him to his very core about them. He looked back at the elf, who was bent slightly as he rather seriously talked to the demon. He was taken aback slightly at the felhunter's behavior toward its master. It seemed to be wagging its tail like an excited dog, and Bhazrael was treating him as such.

"Galazheg," he was saying, his tone serious, "you are to go around and see if you can find any other warlocks. Ignore all the people around me, especially the priest. They're friends. They may not appreciate you trying to get attention from them. Just go out and sniff out any magic user in the vicinity. Don't attack them, just report back to me. Understood?" He waited for a response from the demon. All he got was an excited bark (or at least, as close to a bark as Jen'Zin figured the demon could get) and ran around his master a few times. Bhazrael stood up straight and covered his face with his palm with a defeated aura.

"Havin' trouble?" the troll asked, grinning. He watched the demon dance around his master, the pitted and charred golden band around the felhunter's right horn catching the early morning sunlight in a bright counter to Galazheg's nightmare appearance.

"He's just excited because I haven't called on him in a while," Bhazrael replied, the irritation in his voice evident. The glow in his eyes flared momentarily and he snapped an order to the demon in a foul language that Jen'Zin assumed was Demonic. The shaman did not have the opportunity to hear it before now, and sort of wished he had not heard it. The felhunter stopped in its tracks and faced the warlock, obedient. Bhazrael repeated his orders, and the felhunter gave another demonic bark and raced off in search of prey. The elf shook his head. "I feel sometimes like I was dealt the short end of the stick when I first enslaved my minions."

"Oh yeah?" the troll grinned again. He felt substantially better now that Galazheg was out of sight.

"Well, we all know that Zarghoon is not an outstanding example of what a felguard should be," he replied, starting to count the demons as he named them on his fingers. "As you can see, Galazheg is far too excitable. My succubus, Amerize, is not very bright, and is readily taken advantage of instead of being the one taking advantage. Rek'tarr, a voidwalker, is a lazy bastard and too smart for his own good. Then there's Jibjib, my imp. I think he tries to be a goblin, but he's very bad at it. He tries to manipulate me with words, but always finds himself biting his own ass with very little effort on my part." He sighed. "I'm doomed to have ridiculous minions. I can't even pull any out in front of other warlocks, they make fun of me." Jen'Zin couldn't tell if his whining was serious or facetious, but decided not to ask. The warlock soon straightened himself up. "Anyway, I don't know what this is," he motioned toward the blackened circle, "and I don't really care to find out. We should move as soon as possible."

Jen'Zin nodded and stood up. "We should get ev'ryone up an' movin'. You go start wakin' everyone up, I'll get Gat to make us some breakfast." He walked back to his tent and reopened the flaps. The two inside hadn't moved much, and he shook his brother's foot to try to get him to wake up. The rogue shifted and muttered something, but didn't wake up. He tried again, and succeeded in nearly being kicked in the face. That sudden movement did manage to wake up Claryssa, though. She looked around until she saw Jen'Zin.

"Morning already?" she asked sleepily. He couldn't help but grin.

"Yeh. We need ta be movin' soon. Get Gat up. Tell him ta get his lazy ass up and make us breakfast, yeah?" The shaman reclosed the flaps and went to the wagon as Bhazrael went to the other tents to wake up the rest of the group. The shaman dug through their provisions, pulling out some food for his brother to prepare, trying to ignore the growing congregation around the remnants of Gat's tent. He looked over his shoulder finally, and continued to grope around under the canvas cover that was stretched over the tent to protect it from the driving wind. His hand connected with cold scales, and an irritated hiss announced that he had woken up Azbek on accident. The irate lizard twisted under the cover and nipped at his hand.

"'Ey, ya crazy fuckin' lizard!" he hopped back, pulling his slightly bloody hand out of the wagon. He pulled back the cloth to stare the lizard in the eye. "What ya be doin' sleepin' on our food, huh? Sleepin' ovah wit' da mounts not good enough?" He motioned toward the canvas lean-to they had constructed to shelter the mounts, blood trailing along with his gestures. The lizard hissed malevolently at him. "Don' ya be talkin' ta me in dat tone o' voice," Jen'Zin said, shaking his finger at Azbek. He knew it was ridiculous, but did it anyway, more to make himself feel better. "We used ta be friends, now ya be treatin' me like dis? Where's da love, mon?"

"What on earth are you doing?" Claryssa had crawled out of the tent and made her way over to the cart to see what the shaman was making a fuss about. He showed his bitten hand to her, making a pouting face.

"He bit me," he complained. "An' I didn' do not'in' to him." He swore he saw Azbek roll his eyes, but he did crawl off of the wagon to go nuzzle at the priest's thigh.

"Oh come now," she chided the lizard. It was a little bit amusing, as he was longer than she was tall. "Can I take my eyes off of you for a second?" Azbek chirped apologetically at Jen'Zin and hid behind Claryssa's legs. She laughed at this and reached for the troll's hand, her hand glowing slightly to heal it up. It wasn't really needed as the bite had pretty much stopped bleeding, but Jen'Zin didn't say anything against it. He liked it when she was being this tender and nurturing woman. Unfortunately, that wasn't very often.

Gat oozed out of the tent soon afterwards and started assembling breakfast, putting on a pot of coffee first. He frequently yawned and dozed in front of the small fire, at one point almost falling into it.

"_Late night?_" Jen'Zin asked in their secret language, sitting next to him.

"_Yeah_," Gat replied, rubbing at his eyes. "_I was pretty unne__rved by what happened._"

"_That's not really it, is it__?_"

There was a pause.

"_No, not really._" He scratched his head. "_I felt that I needed to enjoy what time I had with her. I __keep getting this feeling every time I look at her like I'm not going to see her again._"

Jen'Zin was quiet for a few minutes as he watched his brother throw together a light and rather lazy breakfast of toasted ham and cheese sandwiches.

"_It's weird, right__?_" his brother asked, breaking the silence and looking him straight in the eye.

"_What's weird?_"

"_All of it. Me, her, that explosion, this feeling of dread. You started the last part, though. I think your paranoia is finally rubbing off on me._" He grinned then.

Breakfast was short, and eaten around the ring of scorched earth. There were questions and discussions about it, to which Bhazrael added nothing. He insisted that he knew nothing about it, and busied himself with his food before retreating a short distance to brush his hair and shave. It always amazed the shaman how quickly the elf's morning ritual took. Bhazrael had shaving perfected to an art, and was done and clean in only a few minutes, without need for a mirror. He found himself wondering at times if this was because the warlock had trained himself to do it, or because he was so vain that he stared at himself in a mirror long enough to memorize his features innately.

They packed up and were on the road quickly. A sense of urgency had come over the group, especially after Galazheg had come back for an update. How the warlock could understand anything from the felhunter, Jen'Zin didn't know, but Bhazrael had assured the group that there were no warlocks in the vicinity other than himself.

"Why would we be worrying about other warlocks?" Thal asked. The night elf's lack of perception sometimes mystified the troll. How could she be a rogue and survive so long, and be so dense all at the same time?

"We're close to the Mannoroc Coven," Bhazrael replied, his tone like that of a father trying to explain to his little daughter for the eightieth time why water is wet.

"I don't see what the problem is," she replied, lounging across the cart bench. "If what you said was true about them being two-bit warlocks, we have nothing to worry about."

"I said that was how it was two years ago," he replied through clenched teeth. His mount even shared his irritation and squawked at the night elf.

"_Kind of bad when a bird knows more about what's going on than a rogue,_" Jen'Zin said to Gat in twinnish. His brother flashed him a grin but didn't reply.

"How much can change in two years? I mean come on," Thal stretched out. "It's not like they would suddenly become intelligent if they're thralls to the demons."

"The better question is how much can't change in two years," Gelt pointed out. "The fire that caused those burn marks wasn't of this world. I could smell it. Too sulfurous. If some other, stronger warlock made his way to the Coven and got them into order, we could have a serious threat on our hands."

Thal was silent for a while, before muttering a "Yeah, whatever," and sitting upright on the bench.

They traveled swiftly, taking advantage of the good weather. The wind had blown itself out, allowing them to ride harder without salt being thrown into their faces, or into their mount's faces.

After a few hours, Bhazrael began to get fidgety. He scanned the horizon frequently, looking for Galazheg. Unfortunately, this did nothing to alleviate the shaman's own inner turmoil.

* * *

Gat had woken that morning to Claryssa not-so-gently grabbing one of his tusks and shaking his whole head.

"Ow," he had said, rubbing his neck sleepily. "Why ya bein' so mean?"

"I tried being gentle," she replied, giving him a shy kiss on the end of his nose. "But you weren't waking up. So, I tried being rough, and you still didn't wake up. So, I had to resort to mean."

"Still, ya didn' have ta try ta break my neck," he complained. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a crushing embrace. She wheezed slightly and tried to wiggle out of his grip.

"Well, you need to get up. Jen said to get your lazy ass out of bed and cook." She grinned at him. He rolled his eyes.

"Did he, now?" He rolled over quickly and pinned her to the ground, and growled slowly into her neck. He could feel her change demeanor and felt her quiver under him. How quickly he could get her to shift gears excited him, and he found himself in the frustrating position of having to hold himself back. He _hated_ having to control himself. Especially when he so insistently wanted to not control himself.

"Gat," she whined. She was so cute when she whined! He pushed himself off of her and grinned.

"Yes?"

"You're crushing me." Still, there was that whine! He chuckled and got off of her. She shot him a dirty look and made to crawl out of the tent. The rogue grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back, expertly threading his tusks around her neck and kissing her cheek soundly. He let her go and she shivered for an instant before crawling again to the opening and shot a furtive look over her shoulder, half expecting him to grab her again. When he did not, she left. He sighed, and looked down. His pants were quite tight, and the reason for that was very obvious against the tight leather.

"Well, better do something about you," he said to himself.

A little while later, he was assembling breakfast, talking to his brother. He was trying very hard not to think about the priest lest he get himself worked up again, but she kept invading his thoughts. He also couldn't shake an odd feeling of fear. He tried to talk to Jen'Zin about it, but he then realized that he must be just feeding off of his brother's nervousness and made a joke out of his worry.

The fear was only heightened by the discussions being had over the ring of blackened dirt that resided where his tent had been previously.

"It doesn't look like an explosion," Thal said, chewing on a particularly gristly piece of ham in the sandwich he had made her. He had purposefully put that piece in her sandwich. She had complained a few weeks previously about a rather large piece of gristle she had found in a stew he had made profusely, and since then he had given her the toughest pieces of meat he could manage.

"No, it doesn't," Zalgash agreed. "I thought I heard a crack last night, but I convinced myself it was just a part of my dream. Is this what it was?"

"Yeh," Gat said, trying hard not to look at the burn mark. It could have easily been him, and he was not one to admit his own mortality. "I was woken up by dat lizard last night, an' when I went ta go chase aftah him, da tent exploded behind me. Crack, green fire ev'rywhere." He took a bite of his sandwich.

"Green fire?" Thal said, still chewing on the same bite.

"Yeh. Green."

"It could have been because of the sand and whatnot, may have skewed your sight," Bhazrael said. He wasn't looking at the charred ground either. He also wasn't looking at anyone in particular, but instead surveying the horizon to the southwest. Suspicion began prickling in the back of the rogue's mind. Bhazrael knew more than he was letting on.

"This is warlock territory," Zalgash pointed out. "It is more likely than not that this was caused by fel fire."

"Well, we don't really know." The elf was being stubborn about it. Gat opened his mouth to say something with something caught his eye: a glint of gold off in the distance. He watched as the glint turned into a brown smudge against the pale gray of the landscape.

"What da hell is dat?" he muttered. Bhazrael got up and watched the smudge make its way toward them, a look of interest across his face. The smudge quickly grew form and detail, revealing itself to be a felhunter. It bounced through camp and rubbed against the warlock's legs affectionately, like a giant grotesque cat.

"Galazheg, stop that," Bhazrael said, kicking at the demon lightly. It scampered around him like an excitable dog, before the elf barked a command at him and he calmed down. "Now then, what did you find?"

What happened next was indescribable. Gat watched as the demon emitted a series of clicks and growls, its antennae whipping around in strange patterns. The elf seemed able to understand what the demon was trying to say, and nodded seriously at intervals throughout the exchange. He asked a question or two here and there, but stayed silent and watched the demon's tendrils sway back and forth. He sighed then, with some obvious relief.

"There's no other warlocks in the general vicinity," he announced. "There is some trace of a magic user of some time having been here in the past twelve hours, but the trail is so cold that he can't figure out what kind of magic."

Gat felt that last line wasn't entirely true, and his intuition was rarely wrong. He didn't push the issue, though. The elf would deny it to the bitter end.

"There is a lot of magic coming from the Coven," he said, throwing the demon the remains of his sandwich. "We should be careful as we pass it. Galazheg will be a scout for us, and alert us of any warlocks getting too close. He can run faster than any fel horse those cretins can whip up." He made a gesture and the demon pranced merrily around his master before running off again.

Thal hissed from between her teeth. "Please, for the love of Elune, _tell_ us when you've summoned up something. I was ready to stab that thing when it first came into camp!"

"That wouldn't have been a very bright idea," Bhazrael mused, brushing himself off. "Galazheg's bite is rather infectious and very painful." He excused himself as he went off to tidy himself up.

"_He's not telling us everything, is he?_" Gat asked of his brother.

"_No,_" came the reply. "_But all things considered, it may cause too much of a fuss if __we get everyone too worked up about it_."

"_Wouldn't it be just as dangerous to keep information from them?_"

"_Probably, but I think that the tension may cause us to tear each other apart before the warlocks even get to us._"

"_Fair point. What does he really think?_"

"_He doesn't know. He knows that a warlock did it, possibly more, but he doesn't know anything beyond that._"

Gat grunted. He realized that everyone's eyes were on him and his brother.

"You two disgust me," Gelt said, breaking the silence. "Talking in that weird language right in front of us. You should be ashamed."

Jen'Zin gave him a grin. "Oh come now, don' be like dat," he said.

"What are you talking about then?"

All the eyes narrowed in suspicion at them.

"Ah, well," the shaman said, about to stride into a lie without missing a beat. Gat's stomach dropped.

"_What bullshit are you going to tell this time, Jen?_" he thought in dismay.

"Gat's been feelin' a little bit..._weak_ recently, and he was jus' askin' me if I knew any way ta fix dat."

Silence. Gat actually felt a slow flush start to work its way across his features. He covered his face with his hand.

"_Really?_" he said aloud, in zandali. Zalgash was the first to start chuckling.

"Well then, shall we leave you two to discuss Gat's little problem in private?" The orc stood up, trying very hard not to start actually laughing. The rogue felt an overwhelming urge to punch him in the face.

"Oh, shut up," Gat muttered. He crossed his arms irritably.

"It's your problem, not mine," Zalgash replied expansively, gesturing broadly as he walked away to strike his tent. The rest of the group broke apart accompanied by giggles and amused expressions to help break apart camp and get moving.

"_I really, really hate you sometimes_," Gat muttered to his brother with an ugly look.

"_I love you, too._"

* * *

Claryssa wasn't sure what to do with herself. She could definitely feel that she had passed a certain threshold with her relationship with Gat, but she couldn't quite decide on how that made her feel. She had been with a couple of boys before, but it was never on a level like this. She wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

She was sitting between his legs on his raptor as they moved quickly through the parched and deserted landscape of Desolace. There was a subtle difference in how his arm was around her waist, his lighthearted joke here and there to her, the way he looked down at her every now and then. She was suddenly more aware of his breathing and his heartbeat, and found herself in a trance listening to it more than once.

"Ya seem ta be in an odd mood today, priestlin'," the troll said after a while, the humor evident in his voice. He bent over to nuzzle against her cheek a bit.

"Gee," she responded sarcastically, waving him off, "I wonder why that is. And stop calling me that. It makes me feel like a little fairy or something."

"Oh, but ya are little," he said, his voice still teasing. "An' what be wrong wit' bein' a fairy? I betcha'd make a real good fairy."

"But I don't want to be a fairy," she whined. He grinned.

"Oh? Den what _do_ ya wanna be?" There was a weight to the question that Claryssa found exciting but a little bit uncomfortable. When she didn't respond, Gat just sighed and patted her on the head comfortingly. She leaned back against him again, thinking about the question. What did she want to be?

She looked around their little slapdash caravan. She had relied on all these people, learned about them and learned to tolerate their quirks. She felt the question resonating inside her, losing the intimate connotation that Gat had asked it in and becoming a more philosophical question.

"_What do I want to be?_"


	29. Climax

Adventure Loves Company, Too

Chapter 29: Climax

A/N: Well, sorry for the hiatus, but I guess that it is only to be expected from me. Also, story covers, woo! I'm not certain if there is a way to see the big image, though.  
In more recent news, I wrote a good deal of this chapter, but unfortunately lost it due to FF not logging me in for three days. Round two.

* * *

Galazheg raced along the salt flats of Desolace, his claws scoring the hardened earth underneath him, but not raising a cloud of dust. His tendrils whipped back and forth, feeling for the scant trail of residual magic he was following. He had found it a few miles away from his master's camp, and was not a magic he was expecting to find. Whatever fel magics had been used by the attacker, it was not enough to leave a trail to follow after twelve hours. However, the felhunter picked up on another magic; a deeper, more permanent magic.

Necromancy.

Not like someone raised a bunch of minions, but there was a light stench of undeath lingering in one sheltered ravine, as though someone had used it to store a variety of well-aged cheeses. Whoever it was, he had stayed in that ravine for a goodly amount of time before moving on. Undead did not have a strong enough magic reanimating their corpses for Galazheg to worry himself with most of the time, but considering the circumstances, it was suspicious. He also figured that whoever it was also had a reanimated mount, as the amount of residue was too great for one individual. There may even have been two or more.

He continued following the trail, growing closer to the Coven. The trail soon became muddy, at times being totally lost in the criss-cross of well-patrolled routes. He didn't need the trail anymore, though. It was obvious where the attacker originated from, and he made a beeline for the ruins ahead. He slowed his pace, expertly dodging around patrols and demons. He could feel the tethers some of the demons had to their masters, but they were very few. Most of the demons in the Coven were free-roaming, having been summoned by weak-willed "faux-locks," as his master liked to call them. In turn, the demons turned on their hapless masters, and turned them into thralls, obeying the demon's orders completely.

He twisted and turned, catching more smells and feels of magic. The abundance of fel energy was almost overwhelming, but it was set off wonderfully by the light dusting of fire, arcane, and unholy magic. He picked his way around altars and fallen arches, being careful not to be seen. If he were spotted by the wrong demon, his presence would alert the whole camp and he would probably die. He made his way towards the center plaza, following his instincts that if anything was happening, it would be happening in the center of it all. He quickly found a fallen pillar and wiggled his way underneath it to get a front-row seat on what was happening.

The area in front of him was mostly round, with a few cauldrons and desks spattered here and there with warlocks of greater and lesser value working on alchemy and magic experiments. In the center, there was a kind of raised dias with a chaise lounge on it, as though it were made for royalty. The blood elf that sat on the lounge had the air of one who was royal, so he supposed it fit. A sudden shock of recognition flowed through Galazheg as he caught a whiff of the elf's magic and scent. He _knew_ this elf! He stifled a growl and waited. Sure enough, within a few minutes, something happened. Two female undead were escorted to the front of the platform by two terrorguards. They pushed the undead to their knees and withdrew a few paces. They were both warlocks, although only one could really be described using the word. The other was a thrall, a slave to the demons' will.

"My dears," the elf on the couch purred. "You are back later than I expected." The blood elf's voice was cloying, and stuck in the felhunter's brain like so much honey. It was revolting.

"My Lord," the two undead women intoned formally.

"Is there any explanation whatsoever of this?" He leaned forward, resting his elbow on his knee and his chin on his wrist. He gazed at the two in front of him, a slight smile on his face.

"My Lord," the warlock among the two spoke, her voice shaky, "the weather got very bad. We had to wait it out."

"But you are undead, are you not?" the elf asked, his face and his voice never breaking. "Why would the weather hinder you?"

"The wind was too hard, Lord Xanrius," the thrall piped up. "It blew our mounts' feet right from underneath them, and we had to wait until the wind let up a bit."

"I see," Xanrius replied, leaning back as though he were satisfied with this answer. "So, how did it go?"

"It went well, my Lord," the warlock answered again. "The spell went exactly as anticipated, and the whole inside of the tent was displaced."

"And the target?"

"My Lord?" the warlock questioned, a confused look on her face.

"Did you succeed in getting the target in the blast?"

"I would assume so, sir," she replied slowly, suspiciously. "At the very least, I would assume there was someone in the tent at the time of the detonation."

"Are you absolutely sure that there was?"

"Of course we are!" the second one said before the first could open her mouth. Galazheg shuddered. He had sensed more intelligence come from a latrine.

"I see." The elf sat back against the raised back of the lounge, tapping his fingertips together. "Then perhaps you can explain to me why they are all accounted for?"

There was an uncomfortable silence in the plaza. All hands had stopped working and all eyes were on the exchange, wondering if they should run or not. The edge in Xanrius' voice was unsettling, and even the terrorguards wavered slightly.

"My Lord?" the warlock asked, her voice incredulous.

"When you two did not return as planned, I sent out an Eye to search for you." He waved his hand to the side, and an Eye of Kilrogg manifested itself in his palm. "It got there as they were leaving, and I counted all seven of the group alive and well." He wiggled his fingers slightly and the eye danced around his hand. "What say you to that?"

"I...I don't know. I know that the redheaded troll was in that tent, but perhaps he left to use the restroom before I did it. I wasn't able to keep an Eye watching the camp and complete the spell at the same time," the warlock said, her nervousness evident in her voice.

"Then why did Malikrys not send one in?"

"_You know as well as I do that she is absolutely useless_," the warlock replied, switching to demonic for her answer. Obviously the thrall Malikrys did not understand the language. The elf grunted in agreement.

"Well, perhaps we will get another chance. They are passing very close to the Coven soon. We will have to test the spell again," the blood elf paused to stand up. His sickening half-smile was back on his face and his voice became sweet again, "and bring back the others for real test subjects."

"Just us? We won't stand a chance," the warlock said.

"No, you idiot. I am going with you. Along with a few friends." Xanrius grinned. He then spun and pointed directly where Galazheg was hiding. "You, hound! Run back to your master and tell him we are coming." He grinned wickedly. "It has been such a long time since I have seen him, I do so look forward to catching up with him." He paused, waiting for the felhunter to move. "Go! Before I change my mind and destroy you on the spot!"

Galazheg fled.

* * *

As the day wore on, Bhazrael got increasingly agitated. He would frequently look towards the foreboding southern horizon. Claryssa did her best to try to keep the elf from worrying, but she found that his distress was seeping into everyone's thoughts. They moved quickly through the desert.

Somewhere around three or four in the afternoon, Galazheg came rushing back. The party stopped, and the warlock jumped down off of his hawkstrider. The demon whined and pranced around his master, his tendrils whipping back and forth in a panicked frenzy. The elf wobbled and tried to maintain his balance as his minion bumped into his legs and nipped at his robes, trying feverishly to convey what he had found. As Bhazrael was able to decipher what had happened, he began to pale.

"Son of a bitch," he muttered under his breath. He ran a nervous hand through his hair. "Are you sure?" he demanded of the felhunter, who whined at him. The elf began to swear under his breath in Thalassian. Everyone else watched him, their eyes wary. He finally sighed and ran his hand along his mount's feathered neck. "Well, we're screwed," he announced simply.

"Screwed, eh?" Jen'Zin crossed his arms. "What type o' screwed we be talkin' 'bout here?"

"The arrogant asshole type," Bhaz muttered sourly.

"Can we outrun this type of screwed?" Gelt asked.

"Nope. He's already on his way. He should be here soon." For emphasis, Bhazrael pointed toward where his minion had run from. There was a quickly advancing cloud of dust headed toward them. He then pointed skyward, where a small green eye was staring balefully down at them.

Gat let out his breath in a hiss. There was a sort of sigh of resignation that went through the party. As a whole, they dismounted and got themselves ready for a fight. Thal strapped daggers to various parts of her clothing, and Gat rummaged through the cart to pull out a pair of cruel-looking swords. The only exception to this was Jen'Zin, who sat solemnly atop Issa, his arms crossed and brows knitted as he stared at the growing cloud and the small army beneath it. For once, Issa was calm, staring with her master at their impending doom. It was actually kind of frightening.

They lined up on either side of Issa and the shaman, waiting. Eventually, a horde of warlocks and demons came up in line with them, a distance of a mere thirty feet separating them. A mass of gnashing teeth, flapping wings, and stomping hooves roared jeers at them. Gat twirled his swords calmly, snapping them up into a tight grip. From the mass, three people rode up to them, mounted on felsteeds. A regal-looking blood elf flanked by two undead women, one of whom looked as though she wished for all the world that she was anywhere else.

"My dear Bhaz," the blood elf began expansively, his arm swinging out in a grandiose greeting. Bhazrael's expression darkened considerably.

"Xan. It's been a while," the elf's voice sounded cordial despite his glare. "You seem to have found your niche."

"Yes, it has been working out magnificently here," the other elf replied, his expression not faltering. "How long has it been since you ran away? Ten years?"

"Something like that. What do you want, Xanrius? What could we possibly have done to merit such a reception?" Bhazrael crossed his arms.

"Why, you came within my reach, my dear boy." The elf tossed a stray lock of hair over his shoulder. "We have been so sorely in need of subjects."

"Subjects, huh? In the form of little human girls?"

"That is optimal, yes," Xanrius muttered, scratching at his cheek. "They're less likely to be able to strike back should something go awry, as something obviously did. You're lucky you're still here, sweetheart." He practically purred the last line to Claryssa, who bristled. He laughed and spun his hand. The two undead behind him returned to the pack behind them, passing through to the other side. "Perhaps we shall try a second test? A test in which I can see it for myself instead of relying on idiots to do their jobs right." His eyes flashed a foul green fire, and the priest could feel her skin crawl. Today was not going to end well.

"But perhaps the banter can be skipped, yes?" The elf spun his mount around, and the wall of hell opened up for him to pass through. "Do what you will," he said to his small army. "Just keep the human alive."

A roar rose up and the wall began to advance. Suddenly, Jen'Zin raised his arms up level with his shoulders, and the earth beneath them shook violently. A low, deafening rumble came simultaneously from the earth and sky as clouds began to roll in, lightning sparking ominously. The shaman's eyes seemed to glow, and the tattoos that arced over his skin seemed to shift slightly and give off a similar glow. The advancing wall of demons faltered momentarily, but it was momentary enough.

Gelt let out a roar and raised his arms up to the clouds that had gathered. There was a crack of lightning, and giant tornados began to slowly reach down toward the earth like the fingers of some giant. The darkening ceiling was perforated by bright flashes of light, and Claryssa made out arcane stars before they slammed into the earth and bodies of their attackers at full speed. Howls of pain and rage mingled with the bloodlust roar.

The group charged forward again. This time, Zalgash stepped forward. He gave his axe a few swings before charging forward into the advancing mass at full speed. He ran into a giant terrorguard and sent the demon reeling. He pivoted, set his stance and began to spin. The priest supposed it would have been slightly comical, watching the rather stately orc doing such a maneuver, but the spray of blood and viscera banished any amusement. The orc stopped after a few seconds, and paused to recover equilibrium. The group of demons roared in triumph and dove towards him. Claryssa raised her hand and pulled a shield around him, which gave Gat and Thal enough time to get to where he was and jump into the fray.

Claryssa had to be impressed with the two rogues. They had very different combat styles. Gat was face-to-face, parrying swords and using swift strikes to incapacitate his opponents before systematically dispatching them, as though he were in the middle of an intricate and bloody dance. Thal on the other hand slid through the ranks like a weasel, slicing strategic points on her victim's bodies and at times finishing off enemies the others had wounded. It was hard to keep track of her.

Jen'Zin swung himself off of Issa, who charged into the battle with a shriek. The shaman pulled on a pair of gloves with long blades coming off of them. The blades sparked and burned with elemental power. He regarded the battle for a few moments before he threw his head back and let out a long, piercing wolf howl. It was obviously just a gesture of show, but it was impressive nonetheless. In response, a pair of whirlwinds kicked up on either side of him and coalesced into two enormous, ghostly wolves. They snarled and snapped toward the melee.

All the while this was going on, Bhazrael was once again going through the efforts of summoning up an infernal. As Jen'Zin swung down from his mount, the clouds were pierced by the telltale meteor burning with green fire. It struck the earth with a shattering impact, shooting out a wave of green fire and debris before unfolding and adding to the carnage.

Jen'Zin's eyes flashed red, and he threw his head back again and let out a primal roar. The sound was electrifying, and Claryssa felt a surge of power flow through her. The shaman ran forward, his wolves howling and snarling behind him. His movement seemed to be unnaturally fast, and he sliced easily into the fray, a literal whirlwind of movement. His wolves cut into the flesh of the demons, whose weapons passed through them as though they were not really there.

The empowering roar that the shaman had let loose had also apparently affected her allies, as they seemed to move with renewed fervor, Gat's blades and Thal's daggers flashing red, and Zalgash's axe swinging in broad and swift strikes that sent blood flying.

The tornadoes touched down, and the rumbling of the earth jumped a level. They tore through the ranks, and the small army seemed to flinch. Bhazrael and Gelt began to pelt the demoralized army with spells, raining felfire and arcane bolts down upon their heads.

A broad, bloody swath was cut through the center of the army, and the group split into two, fighting back the the leftovers with support from Claryssa's spells and shields. She looked across the battlefield and made eye contact with the undead woman who looked miserable. She was busy with an intricate and involved spell cast. In a sudden fit of dismay, Claryssa realized that she had not moved an inch since the battle had started, which was probably making the warlock's job that much easier. She took a step backward, but it was too late.

* * *

The battle was thrilling, but easy. It was actually somewhat pathetic and a little disappointing how easily these demons fell beneath his blades, but their volume made up for it. Being outnumbered ten to one was enough to make it enjoyable at least. Gat felt that his brother had gone a little bit overboard with the wolves and bloodlust, but he was always a fan of melodrama.

He spun and easily decapitated a human warlock. He glanced over to where Claryssa was standing, throwing out a shield every now and then, a smite here and there. The small army was quickly thinning out, and he started to get an uneasy feeling that it was all just a distraction. He happened a glance over to where the elf named Xanrius and the two undead had retreated to. One of the lesser warlocks was in the middle of something. He felt the hair on his arms and the back of his neck rise. He turned to shout to Claryssa to move, to do something.

An ear-splitting crack that shattered the mind-numbing roar of the earth and tornadoes. A blinding flash of light enveloped the girl, and bright green fire swirled around her. Just as suddenly, it was gone, as was she.

For a split instant, Gat felt his heart stop.


	30. Finale

Adventure Loves Company, Too

Chapter 30: Finale

A/N: Alright, chapter 30. Woo. I've been thinking very seriously about rewriting the first 20 or so chapters…I go back and read it, and can barely believe that people like it. I guess that's just how I've changed in the past few years. It just feels so…Disney. I dunno.

* * *

She was gone.

That one thought whirled through his head, repeating itself and reverberating off the inside of his skull. It staggered him, and blocked out all other senses. The roar of the demons and cries of the warlocks was cut off, like he was suddenly plunged underwater. Similarly, his sight was limited and wavering, the only thing in focus the black circle of singed earth where she once was. He couldn't breathe. Somewhere, someone pushed him to get his attention, but he barely felt it. He looked across the bloodbath at his brother, who happened to look towards him.

The two trolls shared a glance, and they both knew that they were going through the same exact thing. There was an odd solace in that fact, and they snapped back into reality with a growing feral roar. There was no more thought, no more personality. To the rest of the group, the two trolls had been replaced by towering beings made of pure fury, and it was all they could do to get out of the crossfire before the brothers were completely consumed.

As one, they spun on the three warlocks back a distance from the rest. Two of them took a step back; the third one started in on spells, and it was obvious that she did not have a firm grip on her facilities. The elf and undead woman who had cast the spell that had been cast upon the priest started to flee, but it was too late. The pair charged ahead with lightning speed, all natural restraint having been burned away. Jen'Zin collided with the undead warlock who had decided she could stand up to the enraged trolls. There was a spray of rotted fluid as his tusks sliced into and through her, and his arms came up to tear her apart. The woman didn't have time to scream before she was dead, if she was even capable of it before that.

Gat ignored the other and headed straight for the other two, his arms held low and his eyes focused on the two retreating backs in front of him. The elf stumbled over his long robe, and fell behind his underling. Gat's pace quickened and he reached forward to pull the warlock into a death grip. The elf spun before the rogue's arms closed around him, making eye contact with him and giving him a wicked little grin. The elf flickered as his arms closed, and disappeared. Gat stopped in his tracks, looking at the space between his arms with an incredulous expression, the shock starting to return him to sanity.

His brother went rocketing by him, a snarl scorching his path. The remaining warlock screamed and tried her best to run faster, and tripped over herself and slid across the hard earth, curling herself into a sobbing fetal position. Jen'Zin let out a roar and shifted slightly, making to crush her into the ground. He was mere seconds from impact when Gat, suddenly sober, grabbed his arm and spun him into the ground, pinning him to the ground. He yelled at his brother alternatively in zandali and their own language, eventually calming him down enough to listen to what he was saying. Grudgingly, the shaman assented to whatever his brother was saying, and pushed the redhead off of him.

Jen'Zin went to the woman and lifted her around the waist and slung her haphazardly over his shoulder, and stormed back to the group in the wake of his brother, who had walked back and taken a post at the circular scorch, staring at it with an indecipherable expression. The shaman dropped the whimpering undead onto the ground with an unceremonious shrug, and motioned the others to come.

The demons, after the two trolls went berserk and their leader disappeared, had broken and were running back to their base at the Coven. The rest of the group gathered around the undead warlock.

She was disheveled and her robe was tattered. Her whole appearance was one of someone who had obviously been under a lot of strain over the past few months, and a layer of salty grime covered parts of her skin and hair. She trembled under the scrutiny of the crowd around her, uncertain of her fate. In the foreboding silence, she opened her mouth a couple of times, trying to find something to say, but either not finding anything or thinking twice about what she was going to say.

After a few uncomfortable moments, it was Gelt who finally spoke up. "Where is she?" he demanded, his voice soft yet commanding. The warlock started, and was about to answer when Jen'Zin, sparked by Gelt's inquiry, snapped. He grabbed the warlock by the front of her threadbare robes and began shouting in her face in zandali, spit flying from his sharp teeth, coming together inches away from the undead's face as he ranted at her, well beyond any reason or restraint. His eyes glowed and sparks flashed from his hair, the breath coming from his mouth frosty. Gat, ignoring the peril to his own person, ripped his brother away from the warlock, throwing him down on the ground. He didn't even bother trying to reason with him, he just grappled with the shaman for a few moments before successfully forcing him into a painful pin. The rogue nodded at the tauren, indicating that he could continue.

Gelt nodded and turned again to their captive, only to be interrupted again.

"How do you know she's still alive somewhere?" Thal asked. The tauren sighed and waved his hand over to the large starburst burn on the earth nearby.

"Even the best incineration would leave debris," he said. "There's nothing of her left, and there's a perfectly untouched circle of land in the center of that. She has to be somewhere. However, I do not know if it is somewhere habitable," he admitted, his ears drooping slightly.

"She's alive," the warlock said, her raspy voice wavering slightly. "Probably. At least for now."

"For now?" Zalgash stepped forward this time. "What do you mean 'for now'?"

The warlock took in a shuddering breath. "I've served under Xanrius for a few years now. I was surprised that he took such interest in me, as I am not much of a warlock. I can barely summon up an imp. I do best with direct spells, especially fire spells." She paused for a moment to make a rueful face. "I would make a better mage than a warlock, I think. The only reason why I even delved into the fel magics is because of my friend, Malykris." She looked away from the other undead's remains, strewn across the hardened earth.

"One of the things that I was very interested in was arcane magics. Even though I had never had any formal mage training, I was pretty good, especially with portals. It's an interesting process, making a portal. You have to be sure that you're not making a portal into something solid, too far off the ground, somewhere with air, not in someone's house-"

"Stick to the story, please," Gelt interjected.

"Sorry," she said quickly. "Anyway, because of my particular talents, Xanrius took a very keen interest in me. He set me to work with a couple of other warlocks and a mage. We were to create a spell to teleport someone against their will. It's harder than one might think. I don't know exactly what his ultimate goal was. All I know is that once we had figured out how to do it by teleporting small inanimate objects a few feet, that we were to go full-out and he gave us a list of places that he wanted us to set as destinations."

"And where did you send Claryssa?" Zalgash asked, his hands clasped behind his back to keep him from reaching out and beating the warlock to make her get to the point faster.

"It's somewhere in Shadowmoon Valley," she said, and there was a silence.

"Outland?" Bhazrael said incredulously. "You sent her to Outland?"

"Not just her," the undead said, a hint of hopefulness to her voice. "That warp stalker was at her feet when I sent her."

Now that she had said it, they realized that Azbek was not around them. That particular realization caused a small cry of despair to escape from Jen'Zin.

"Vil's gonna kill us," he moaned. He could already imagine the irate old hunter beating him over the head with some random overdecorated staff in his cabinet of staffs and polearms that he proudly called his "cabinet o' trophies rogue'd away from druids." The shaman grinned slightly at imagining the hunter saying such a thing, then went back to imagining being beaten to death by one of them and whined.

"Are you sure she made it there?" Gelt asked. The warlock seemed to take affront to that.

"Of course she did!" she scoffed. "I may not be a very good warlock, but I do know how to make a portal!"

There was an extended silence, in which Gat released his hold on his brother, and helped him to his feet. The shaman was temporarily distracted from Claryssa's fate to his own at the hands of Vilzek over losing one of his favorite companions.

"So what is your name?" Bhazrael asked, more to break the silence than anything.

"Soreledin," she replied. There was another silence before the others started to awkwardly get their mounts ready to go.

"Wait," Gat said, holding up his hand and stepping toward Soreledin. He pulled the warlock up onto her feet, leaving a hand pressing on her shoulder. "Do ya t'ink dat she still be alive?"

She seemed slightly taken aback by the question and she floundered a bit. "I suppose that she could still be alive, but I am not sure how long she will be. I am sure that where I sent her was probably a Legion base camp."

"So dere's still dat chance," the rogue said firmly. He cleared his throat. "I'm gonna go look for her," he said, his tone determined. "Dis little scrap is gonna help me," he said, a growl invading his voice. "Any o' ya wanna help, den ya be welcome to, but we be breakin' ways in Shadowprey." He grabbed Soreledin's upper arm and dragged her towards Razuli, mounting up and slinging her over his raptor's back. The undead did not complain particularly, and seemed like she pretty much expected to receive such a rough treatment. Without any further ado, he kicked his heels into the raptor's sides and sped off with a low screech.

Jen'Zin followed quickly, Issa's claws leaving long gashes in the dirt and piercing shrieks lingering in their ears as he sped off to help his brother on his quest, followed closely by Zalgash on Grel. Gelt turned to return to his kodo when Thal spoke up again.

"You're going with them?" she asked, her voice incredulous. The tauren turned to her, his face confused.

"You're not?" he asked.

"You're the first person I would expect to throw a fit about this, about how it's a terrible idea and we're all going to die." The elf crossed her arms and cocked her hip.

The tauren's face split into a huge grin. "Are you kidding? This is the most fun I've ever had."

Thal gaped at the cow grinning like an idiot in front of her. "Seriously?" was all she could say.

"Yeah," he said, swinging himself into the beast's saddle. "I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, I have no clue where we are going to be in a week. It isn't boring." He paused slightly, thinking. "Besides, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I just abandoned that girl like this. She's insufferable at times, yes, but..." he let his voice trail off for a moment before clearing his throat, nodding at the two elves, and snapping his kodo's reins.

The blood elf and night elf watched the beast lumber off down the road for a few minutes before Bhazrael looked at Thal.

"Are you going" he asked.

"Why?" she snapped.

"Because I need to know if I can ride off dramatically after them or if I have to grab the wagon."

"You're going, too?" the rogue hissed. Bhaz cocked his head.

"What else am I supposed to do? The past few months have been devoted to following those deranged trolls. I ache in places I didn't know I had, my hand is still sore and is going to be scarred forever, my hair is an absolute mess...and I have never had so much fun." He grabbed his hawkstrider's reins. "Now, am I tying these to the back of the cart, or are you coming along too?"

She grumbled for a few moments before sighing in defeat. "I don't have anything better to do."

* * *

I am seriously debating either making a new story for the journey into Outland, or continuing on this one. 30 chapters is such a nice number, but I can't think of a title for the second part. Maybe after I rewrite the first twenty or so chapters of this I'll get on that.


	31. Epilogue

Adventure Loves Company, Too

Epilogue

A/N: Okay, so you have all spoken to me and I won't change the story. Even though there is one chapter in particular that still gives me nightmares at night because it embarrasses me just by existing. Oh well. I'm adding an epilogue on to the end of this one to set up for the sequel, "Rightly Considered Inconvenience."

* * *

Two years have passed since the incident in Desolace. The ramifications of the event were miniscule at best. The disappearance of a young girl was not of interest to anyone in the world, as there were more important things happening. During the past two years, Azeroth was wracked by cataclysms. The earth shuddered and seized, buckling against itself as Deathwing tore through the Maelstrom and wreaked havoc on the landscape. The Horde and Alliance had a brief moment in which they put their war on hold to dispose of the common enemy the patriarch of the Black Dragonflight gave them.

That time was all over, though. Deathwing was slain, his madness slowly being cleaned from the world, but its face would always bear the scars of the rising of the hour of Twilight. It was the dawning of the age of mortals.

The focus was forced for those two years from their mission. For two years, Gat and Jen'Zin in particular fumed. The new Warchief called upon them and forced them into work, not tolerating any deviation from his commands. While the two had no respect for Garrosh, they had no wish to push their luck against him. So, they waited. They made their plans. They kept in contact with their companions, and kept a particularly close eye on Soreledin, the undead warlock.

She was about as good of a Forsaken as she was a warlock. She was something of an anomaly among the undead, and was largely shunned by the rest of her peers. She had a sense of humanity to her that denied her that particular charm that the Forsaken usually had, and she still felt remorse for any harm done to innocents. Over the course of the first year, she had expressed intense regret for what she had done, and quickly agreed to help them right what had happened. She tried to shift her direction in her magic, but there were subtle differences between the arcane magics used by mages and the fel magic used by warlocks that she couldn't quite overcome. She settled instead on manipulating fel fire.

Gelt and Zalgash returned to their lives before. The tauren was highly reluctant to return to Thunder Bluff, and was met by the months-long lecturing and punishments for running off like he did, for so long. The orc returned to Strangethorn, and spent the same amount of months whipping the workers at Grom'gol back into shape. Bhazrael stayed near the two trolls, either out of unwillingness to return to Silvermoon or for lack of anything better to do. Or perhaps both.

Thal did not return to Darnassus. Instead, she backtracked to Ratchet, where she boarded a ship to Booty Bay and worked her way north to Stormwind. There, she sought out the parents of the girl that disappeared.

She found that the girl's parents were exactly as she imagined they would be. Her mother was of average height, her father slightly above average height. There was nothing remarkable about the pair, they were a very ordinary couple. When they opened the door, Thal sensed a kind of resignation about them. As the rogue talked to them and mentioned Claryssa, the woman's eyes sparked into life and she began to question the elf, wanting to know what happened to her daughter, beckoning her inside.

An inexplicable pang of guilt went through the rogue as she remembered that her original goal was to kill the girl. As she thought back on her actions, it occurred to her that the whole thing was absolutely preposterous and she was ashamed to remember it. It was embarrassing. She rather tactfully omitted that particular part of her tale, but she relayed pretty much everything else. The couple listened to her with minimal interruptions or reaction.

"That's all well and good, dear," the mother said finally, "but is she still alive?" Thal silenced the arrogant part of her brain that was instantly irritated by being called "dear."

"We don't know," she admitted. "We hope that she will be. We're going to be going after her. Eventually."

"We?" mom asked. "Meaning, the _other_ guys will be going too?" The woman's voice wavered slightly. She was clearly disturbed at the idea of her daughter cavorting with Horde men. Thal forced out a light-hearted laugh to try to make her feel better.

"Don't worry, it's nothing like that," the elf said, waving her hand as if dismissing the mother's fears. "These guys are the biggest group of bleeding hearts I've ever seen. It's actually kind of silly how they all act. You have nothing to worry about." Thal paused momentarily. "Except maybe Gat, I think may be kind of a cradle robber."

The two humans stared at her incredulously.

"Of course, I don't think that it's quite that much of a difference, only what, ten years?" Thal mused, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "Although, since trolls mature so quickly, I don't really know." She privately gloated as Claryssa's parents blanched as the image of their daughter with a troll danced through their heads. It was too good an opportunity to pass up. She made a mental note to ask the little priest to extend an apology on her behalf. If they ever found her.

That sobering thought brought Thal back, and wiped the smile off her face. "I don't know when we'll be able to go find her," she said. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. "If we do find her, I can't guarantee that she'll be alive, and if she is alive, I don't know if she'll be the same. We know she is somewhere in Outland, most probably in Shadowmoon Valley. There still remains a strong Legion presence there. Hopefully she somehow made her way out, but we really have no way of knowing until we get there."

"Why are you doing this?" the father said. It was the first thing he had said the whole time.

Thal thought about that. Why were they going to such an extent?

"Despite all of the aggravations, the irritations, the silliness of it all, we all found ourselves bound together by a strange type of camaraderie, and that girl is really the start of it all. If it weren't for her, Jen'Zin would not have dallied in Elwynn. She would still be here, he would be off somewhere else, every one of us would be continuing our lives in utter boredom. We are all indebted to her, even though some of us would rather die than admit it. She's annoying and naive and childish," Thal paused to take a breath, "but without her around, life is just so awfully _boring_."

"So," dad said, trying to put his thoughts into voice, "you're going through all this trouble, putting yourselves in danger...to keep yourselves entertained?" He sounded a bit insulted by the prospect, to which the rogue cocked her head.

"Isn't everything that we do to and for other people ultimately for our own entertainment?"

Thal later left the house, her mind working. She had a lot of work to do to prepare for their departure.

Two years later.

END.


End file.
